LOIS Receives Disallowance on Work Stress Claim

Senior Associate Nicholas Minerva obtained a disallowance in a New York Workers’ Compensation claim pertaining to an alleged psychological injury caused by an increased workload at work. The pro se Claimant worked as an insurance adjuster for 16 years and is currently a case manager. She alleged that her company experienced a mass exodus of employees which left a strain on the adjusters who remained. However, during Minerva’s cross-examination, the Claimant conceded that the workload was also increased for similarly situated employees and that the long hours she had worked and the vacation time she had forfeited was not mandatory, but due to her work ethic. The employer-witness, a fellow case manager, confirmed that all case managers workloads were increased, and the Claimant was not singled out in any way. Minerva argued that WCL § 2(7) did not include an injury which is solely mental and is based on work-related stress if there was no showing that the stress experienced was greater than that which other similarly situated workers experienced in the normal work environment. The Law Judge agreed with Minerva, finding that the stress that the Claimant experienced was no greater than that which other similarly situated workers in the normal work environment, closing the claim entirely.