Mental Injuries Archives - Workers' Compensation Watch

Coming to a worksite near you?

Stressed out and disaffected white collar workers seem to idealize blue collar work as physically taxing, but not mentally straining. The stress-free blue-collar worker is personified by the character Larry in the classic movie, Office Space.

But in reality, many blue-collar jobs can be every bit as mentally stressful, if not more stressful, than white-collar jobs. The Daily Beast ran an investigative report involving suicide attempts by workers in Amazon warehouses. The mental stress comes from trying to keep up with the fast pace of work.

The complaints of Amazon workers eerily mirror those of Chinese employees of Apple contractor Foxconn, which notoriously installed suicide prevention nets to prevent further employee suicides.

I hear many of the same complaints about stress from about the pace of work from my clients who work in meat packinghouses. A work injury can often worsen the stress of keeping up with production because a physical injury usually makes it harder to do a job. The Daily Beast article profiled one worker who suffered increased mental problems after an ankle injury on the job impacted his ability to keep up with the demands of his job.

Mental stress is part of my many workplaces, but purely mental injuries usually aren’t covered by workers’ compensation laws. For a mental injury to a warehouse worker in Nebraska to covered by workers’ compensation, it would have to be directly related to a physical injury. Mental stress from being unable to keep up with job demands due to a physical injury could be covered.

In Nebraska, certain workers such as police, firefighters and other first responders can collect workers’ compensation for purely mental injuries. But even before the Daily Beast article about extreme mental distress among Amazon employees, me and other workers’ compensation bloggers have questioned why so called mental-mental benefits are limited to first responders. I’ve taken a particular interest in convenience store clerks and other retail employees are often subject to or witnesses of violent crime.

My view is the answer to why so-called mental-mental benefits tend to be limited to first responders is politics. Retail workers and non-unionized warehouse workers don’t have the kind of clout as police officers or firefighters.

First responders deserve mental-mental workers’ compensation benefits because they can be subject to terrible trauma on the job. But other workers can be also be subject to serious mental distress on the job. That stress should be covered by workers’ compensation laws in Nebraska and other states.

What have we learned, and what is the progress we have made toward helping those who help others?

As we remember and celebrate that fateful day, we should continue to celebrate and protect those who risk their lives to help others but who continue to live with the mental and emotional effects when faced with such tragic events encountered in responding to the call to serve.

In Nebraska, we have recognized that with tragic events come the effects to some who just can’t mentally and emotionally get past those events. We have garnered some protections for those first responders whose job it is to serve when emergency matters require it.

First responders have a specific definition as set forth in Nebraska Revised Statute 48-101.01, but essentially if a person serves as an officer, fireman or medical emergency personnel who is called to an emergency response situation, then that person has some workers’ compensation protections.

Personal injury now “includes mental injuries and mental illness unaccompanied by physical injury for an employee who is a first responder” if that person suffers from PTSD, depression, anxiety, mood disorder, panic attacks, reactionary diversion, neurotic disorder, etc.

One must establish “that the employee’s employment conditions causing the mental injury or mental illness were extraordinary and unusual in comparison to the normal conditions of the particular employment” in which they serve. What is usual is constantly being debated and disputed, but an event causing significant bodily injury or death is not usual in the eyes of the courts.

What is not covered or considered compensable are “mental injuries and mental illness arising out of and in the course of employment unaccompanied by physical injury … if they result from any event or series of events which are incidental to normal employer and employee relations, including, but not limited to, personnel actions by the employer such as disciplinary actions, work evaluations, transfers, promotions, demotions, salary reviews, terminations” or going through the legal process in unrelated matters.

Sometimes employers will retaliate against employees who claim work injuries. Though demotions, write-ups and post-injury terminations aren’t compensable through workers’ compensation, there could be a retaliation or disability discrimination claim. First responders who believe they might be being retaliated against should also reach out to the NAPE/AFSCME, IAFF or FOP representative immediately to help preserve their employment.

We have come a long way in the 15 years since 9-11 in providing protections and workers’ compensation coverage to first responders who make it their job to serve and protect. But what about those who were working and saw and experienced this tragedy who are not first responders? They continue to not be covered for their mental and emotional effects. On this anniversary date, as we remember those who served, we need to continue to fight for everyone who encounters tragic events in the course and scope of their employment and suffers mental illness or conditions, but do not suffer a physical injury. They need the protections workers’ compensation coverage can provide, just like first responders.

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Tag Archives: Mental Injuries

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