Appeals court says mental stress not compensable comp injury

A New York appeals court Thursday disallowed a field repair technician’s 2018 workers compensation claim for mental stress that she claimed exacerbated a preexisting psychological condition.

A workers compensation law judge had concluded that the claimant “failed to establish that her alleged injuries were caused by a workplace accident,” according to CV-23-1581, filed in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.

The claimant’s administrative appeal of the law judge’s determination was denied by the New York Workers Compensation Board as untimely, and her subsequent request for reconsideration and/or full board review was also denied.

The appeals court wrote that “although the medical evidence indicated, based upon claimant’s self-reporting, that work-related stress exacerbated her posttraumatic stress disorder… the Board’s factual determination that claimant had not experienced stress greater than that which other similarly situated workers experienced in the normal work environment is supported by substantial evidence.”