FOL Obtains a Favorable Jury Verdict in a Difficult PTSD Case

Jessica MacCarty, FOL trial attorney and litigation specialist, achieved an excellent jury verdict in a complex PTSD case recently.

Claimant was employed as a detective for a city police department and specialized in sexual crimes involving children. On August 5, 2020, Claimant was transferred from her position as a detective to night patrol. Claimant strenuously disagreed with the change in her job duties, and about two weeks later, she reported she fainted while getting ready for work. She sought treatment at the emergency room, which then directed her to seek treatment with her primary care physician. Claimant resigned from the police department and was later diagnosed with a bevy of mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Claimant submitted a workers’ compensation claim and asserted multiple exposures to the details of the sexual crimes against minors she experienced over the years as a detective caused PTSD. The Self-Insured City denied the claim and contended there was no medical evidence of a causal connection between claimant’s job duties and her diagnosis of PTSD. The City also raised the defense that any such injury was due to a legitimate personnel action.

Claimant retained an attorney and initiated the administrative dispute process. However, after a CCH the ALJ ultimately found it was the transfer as opposed to her job duties that caused Claimant’s mental trauma injury. The ALJ therefore ruled that claimant’s mental trauma was due to a legitimate personnel action and thus was not compensable. The Appeals Panel issued a written decision, but upheld the determination that Claimant’s claimed injury was not compensable.

Claimant then filed suit for judicial review and maintained that her symptoms of PTSD had started years before the transfer occurred. Her attorney therefore argued that her PTSD was caused by her job duties and that the transfer exacerbated the symptoms to the point that she needed medical treatment. Claimant relied primarily on her own testimony, the testimony of her spouse, her treating doctor, and an expert witness.

Attorney MacCarty, on behalf of the Self-Insured City, contended that the ALJ made the right decision that any mental trauma injury was due to a legitimate personnel action. The City relied on the chronology of events as well as Claimant’s statements to health care providers in the immediate aftermath of the transfer about the cause of her symptoms. However, attorney MacCarty also argued that there was no objective medical evidence that Claimant had PTSD as opposed to some other mental trauma condition. The City relied on its own expert to explain to the jury how to properly diagnose PTSD using objective testing, which was never done in Claimant’s case.

After submission, the jury returned a 10-2 verdict that Claimant had NOT sustained an injury in the form of PTSD in the course and scope of her employment with the City on or before August 18, 2020. Discussion with the jurors post verdict revealed that while they all felt deep sympathy for Claimant, they were swayed by the testimony from the City’s expert witness about the lack of objective testing for PTSD.

Jessica MacCarty would be happy to discuss this case with you in more detail, or to consult on any litigation you may have pending. She can be reached at JMM@fol.com.