'The board will not agree to compensate a worker simply because their anxiety or depression gets exacerbated because of something that happened at work,' employment lawyers explain nuances of claims
A recent Appeals Commission for Alberta Workers’ Compensation decision underscores the strict standards for psychological injury claims, reminding employers that not all workplace stressors qualify as compensable injuries.
The ruling, which denied a worker’s appeal, highlights the importance of objective evidence, employer documentation, and clear distinctions between everyday workplace pressures and traumatic incidents.
“Traumatic onset psychological injury is compensable when it is an emotional reaction in response to a single traumatic work-related event, or a cumulative series of traumatic, work-related events that were experienced by the worker,” says Joseph Oppenheim, employment lawyer with Carbert Waite in Calgary.
“They won't be able to successfully claim for the manifestation of an unrelated psychological issue – whether it be an injury or simply mental illness... simply because they go to work and they get effectively triggered, or something causes their symptoms to manifest.”
One of the main reasons the Appeals Commission denied the worker’s claim was a lack of objective evidence connecting their diagnosed major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety Disorder to a workplace event that would meet WCB’s...
Two attorneys for MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell were sanctioned by a Colorado federal judge on Monday over a February brief containing nearly 30 "defective citations" after using artificial intelligenc...