New York Senate passes bill allowing PTSD claims for all workers

The New York Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would allow all workers to file claims for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Senate voted 42-20 to pass S.B. 6373, which would build on legislation from 2017 that allowed PTSD coverage for certain first responders.

The 2017 legislation precluded the Workers’ Compensation Board from disallowing first-responder PTSD claims based on a finding that they were exposed to stress in the normal course of their occupation.

S.B. 6373 would expand that protection to all workers.

“Where a worker files a claim for mental injury premised upon extraordinary work-related stress incurred at work, the board may not disallow the claim upon a factual finding that the stress was not greater than that which usually occurs in the normal work environment,” the proposed bill reads.

The Senate last year voted 44-19 to pass the bill, and the measure died in the Assembly. The bill was carried over to the second year of the legislative session and returned to the Senate in January.

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