Washington Claimant May Not Recover for PTSD as an Occupational Disease
A Washington appellate court affirmed a finding by the state’s Department of Labor and Industries (”the Department”) that an employee could not prevail in her occupational disease claim for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [LaRose v. Department of Labor & Indus., 2020 Wash. App. LEXIS 169 (Jan. 27, 2020)]. Noting that under some circumstances, a claimant could recover for PTSD if cause by a sudden and tangible happening, of a traumatic nature, producing an immediate or prompt result, and occurring from without, and such physical conditions as result therefrom [see Wash. Rev. Code § 51.08.100] the court stressed that the legislature had expressly excluded coverage of a mental condition or mental disability caused by stress as an occupational disease [see Wash. Rev. Code § 51.08.142].
Background
Claimant worked as a public defender attorney and represented a defendant charged with felony stalking. During her representation of the client, she indicated that he began making frequent, unwanted, and inappropriate phone calls to her at work. She notified her supervisors but continued to represent him. Her supervisors did not remove her from the case. After the representation ended, she contended the harassing and stalking behavior continued until the man was again arrested and charged with criminal conduct.
She sought workers compensation benefits for PTSD. In the proceeding, the claimant stipulated that the cumulative effect of several stalking incidents committed by the same person caused her mental conditions. The Department argued that in light of that stipulation, it was entitled to dismissal as a matter of law. After hearings, the state Board affirmed the denial of her occupational disease claim, but the superior court reversed on the grounds that the Department exceeded its statutory authority by adopting WAC 296-14-300(2)(d) precluding “[r]epeated exposure to traumatic events” as an occupational disease. The Department appealed.
Appellate Court Finding
The appellate court disagreed with the Superior Court and held the Department had not exceeded its statutory authority. It observed that the 2015 amendment of WAC 296-14-300(2)(d) was consistent with the IIA and the express legislative directive to exclude claims for a mental condition or mental disability caused by stress from coverage as an occupational disease. Accordingly, the appellate court reversed the decision of the superior court and affirmed the decision of the Board to deny the occupational disease claim for PTSD and major depressive disorder.
The court stressed that the Industrial Insurance Act, Wash. Rev. Code tit. 51, did not exclude industrial injury claims for mental conditions or mental disabilities caused by stress. In contrast, the legislature had expressly excluded coverage of a mental condition or mental disability caused by stress as an occupational disease [Wash. Rev. Code § 51.08.142].