New York: Court Affirms Board’s Finding that Claimant’s Stress Was Greater than That of Other Workers

A New York court affirmed an award to a charity’s caseworker that contended she sustained a mental injury based upon stress on her job. The court acknowledged that N.Y. Work. Comp. Law § 2(7) precluded claims for mental injuries based upon work-related stress resulting from a lawful personnel decision involving a disciplinary action or other designated action taken in good faith by the employer. It acknowledged further that the employer contended claimant’s condition arose out of two disciplinary letters that she had received. The claimant countered, however, with evidence that she had been treated for a mental injury prior to the drafting of the two disciplinary letters, that her stress claim was associated to being punched in the stomach by a client, and that she had overheard her supervisor making disparaging statements. The Board was free to resolve the conflict and to deal with the credibility issues and it had done so. The court concluded that the Board's determination that the stress that caused claimant's injury was greater than that of other similarly situated workers also was supported by substantial evidence.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

See Haynes v. Catholic Charities, 2016 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 566 (3rd Dept. Jan. 28, 2016)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, §§ 44.05, 56.04 [44.05, 56.04]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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