PSYCHOLOGICAL CLAIMS IN WORKER’S COMPENSATION CASES
Relevant case law to consider in Claims involving psychological injuries. CASE FACTS HOLDING
Injuries without any physical component are compensable…If the mental state for which recovery sought is capable of objective determination. PTSD unaccompanied by physical disease could be compensable under the Worker’s Compensation Act as an occupational disease if the claimant could present sufficient evidence to meet the statutory requirements under the Maryland worker’s Compensation Act, Md. Code Ann., Lab & Empl. Section 9- 101 (g) and 9-502. 1) The disease must have been contracted as a result of and in the course of employment and that the disease must have cause the employee to become incapacitated and under Md. Code Ann., Lab & Empl. Section 9-502 (d) (1) (i) and… 2) That the disease must have been due to the nature of an employment in which the hazards of the occupational disease existed. The court concluded that the claimant’s PTSD could be reasonably characterized as due
A 3 ton beam, hoisted by a construction crane, broke loose and crashed through the roof of an office building. Belcher was at her desk when the incident occurred. She suffered sleep disturbances, nightmares, heart palpitations, chest pain, and headaches as a result of the occurrence. The claimant was employed by the county as a paramedic. She filed for worker’s compensation coverage, claiming that she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of responding to a severe accident.
Belcher v. T. Rowe Price Found., Inc ., 329 Md. 709, 621 A.2d 872 (1993).
Means v. Baltimore County , 344 Md. 661
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