Special Workers' Compensation Alert - Pennsylvania
New legislative proposals to alleviate proof requirements in COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims are understandably getting all of the attention right now. Yet, there has been a bill pending in the Pennsylvania State Legislature for the past year that, if passed, would lessen the burden of proof in mental/mental claims made by first responders who are, at this very moment, on the front lines battling the Coronavirus pandemic, day in and day out.
House Bill 432, which is surreptitiously moving toward a vote, seeks to reduce the burden of proof in mental/mental claims for telecommunicators, corrections officers, professional and volunteer firefighters, volunteer ambulance corps, volunteer rescue and lifesaving corps, and emergency medical services personnel. In short, a post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) injury would be defined as a mental disorder characterized by direct exposure to a traumatic event “whether normal or abnormal,” as identified by the American Psychiatric Association and documented in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM V). The law also allows for a presumption if a police officer, firefighter or emergency medical worker with four or more years of service develops PTSD from the cumulative effect of psychological stress at work.
In other words, the normally high burden of showing an “abnormal working condition” in a mental/mental claim for this class of employee would be substantially diluted. An abnormal working condition is a work-related stress that must be caused by actual objective, abnormal working conditions as opposed to subjective, perceived or imagined employment events. The bill further proposes replacing the “preponderance of the evidence” standard under Section 301 (g) of the Act with a standard of “substantial competent evidence” that the mental injury was caused by a “direct exposure to a normal or abnormal working condition.” Incidentally, “substantial competent evidence” is relied on by appellate courts to assess whether findings made by a judge in a decision are supported by the evidence.
We will continue to track developments with this bill and keep you informed on its progress.
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