Hello, and thank you for your question.
The 1st District Appellate Court of Illinois reviewed a worker's
compensation case in 2001 and reaffirmed the decision of the
Industrial Commission (the commission decides workers' comp cases)
that job-related post-traumatic stress can be a legitimate and
compensable claim. The case involved a flight attendant who suffered
severe stress in the cause of her work due to a potentially dangerous
passenger.
You can find the relevant case citation at:
http://www.state.il.us/court/Opinions/IndCommn/2001/1stDistrict/January/Html/1993877.htm
The case itself is referred to as:
January 25, 2001
NO's. 1-99-3877WC and 1-99-3898WC
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
FIRST DISTRICT
INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION DIVISION
The whole case is worth reading to get the context of the situation,
and the court's decision, but the most relevant section is this:
"In Illinois, psychological injuries are compensable under one of two
theories, either physical-mental, when the injuries are related to and
caused by a physical trauma or injury, or mental-mental, when the
injuries are caused by sudden severe emotional shock traceable to a
definite time and place and cause even though no physical trauma or
injury was sustained. See City of Springfield v. Industrial Comm'n,
291 Ill. App. 3d 734, 738, 685 N.E.2d 12, 14 (1997). Recovery for
non-traumatically-induced mental disability is limited to those
employees who can establish that: (1) the mental disorder arose in a
situation of greater dimensions than the day-to-day emotional strain
and tension which all employees must experience; (2) the conditions
exist in reality, from an objective standpoint; and (3) the employment
conditions, when compared with the nonemployment conditions, were the
major contributing cause of mental disorder. Northwest Suburban
Special Education Organization v. Industrial Comm'n, 312 Ill. App. 3d
783, 787, 728 N.E.2d 498, 501 (2000). Mental disorders which develop
over time in the normal course of the employment relationship do not
constitute compensable injuries. 312 Ill. App. 3d at 788, 728 N.E.2d
at 502. On the other hand, in dealing with the physical-mental
category, even a minor physical contact or injury may be sufficient to
trigger compensability. See Chicago Park District v. Industrial
Comm'n, 263 Ill. App. 3d 835, 842, 635 N.E.2d 770, 776 (1994). In this
instance, the Commission concluded claimant could recover under either
theory. We agree. We therefore conclude the Commission's determination
is not against the manifest weight of the evidence."
This case appears to be the most recent to affirm the status of post
traumatic stress(though I can't be sure, as I don't know how long it
takes decisions to be posted on their site).
If you need other cases beyond those cited here, or additional
clarifications of the information I provided, please don't hesitate to
ask.
Good luck with your situation.
Dave |
