Suicide attempt over denied comp benefits not subject to tort

A livestock worker who was gored by a bull and fell into depression because of his injuries can’t sue his employer’s workers compensation insurer for negligence over a denial of anti-depressants, which he said led him to attempt suicide, an appeals court in Wisconsin ruled Tuesday.

Following his 2012 injury the man was prescribed antidepressants to treat depression caused by the incident. In May 2015, he attempted to refill his prescription, which was “initially rejected” by the Continental Indemnity Co., which eventually agreed to cover the cost after a phone call from the pharmacist. Later in June, while trying to refill his prescription, the same denial occurred. Yet this time when pressed, Continental did not approve payment for the drug, according to documents in Appeal No. 2018AP1782, filed in the Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, District III in Wausau.

The man said he “could not afford to purchase the medication on his own” and one month later he shot himself in the head. Surviving his suicide attempt, in 2017 he filed a lawsuit claiming the insurance company had been negligent, documents state.

A circuit court subsequently denied summary judgment to the insurer Continental, which had argued that the man’s injury and mental injury fell within the parameters of workers compensation. 

The appeals court on Tuesday reversed, stating that the issue should have stayed with the state’s workers compensation system, which has procedures set forth in handling benefits denials and maintains that as the exclusive remedy for workers who suffer injuries on the job, according to documents.

“(T)he exclusive remedy provision allows for an insurer to be held liable for an employee’s new or aggravated injuries, regardless of fault, as long as those new injuries relate back to the original compensable event,” the ruling states.