Comp court dismisses mental injury claim involving employee evaluation

The Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims on Tuesday dismissed a mental injury claim filed by a woman who alleged her pre-existing post-traumatic stress disorder was exacerbated by something that was said during a work evaluation last year.

As documented in case No. 26221-2023, during a meeting a colleague at commercial real estate data platform CoStar Group Inc. “inadvertently” used the word “kidnapped,” which although not directed to or about the claimant, reminded her of a past traumatic event.

The mental injury claim also contended that her employee evaluation, given a couple of hours after the meeting, was written by someone who was being investigated for alleged misconduct directed at her, according to documents.

The court said that “certainly a supervisor who is under investigation for his conduct toward his supervisee to write her evaluation could produce unpleasant emotions like anger, powerlessness, or feelings of subjugation.”

However, the court concluded that “those feelings are not uncommon or unexpected” in such proceedings and that the claimant “acknowledged her physical safety was not harmed or threatened.”

“Instead, the threat of harm and loss was to her employment and employment opportunities,” the court wrote, adding that “(s)tatutory law and caselaw direct that a mental injury does ‘not include a psychological or psychiatric response due to the loss of employment or employment opportunities.’”