Canadian Employment Law Today

Canadian HR Reporter, 2020 4 Cause and trigger A SASKATCHEWAN worker for a police service has regained his claim for workers' compensation benefits after a court found the rejection of his claim was based on a failure to distinguish between a cause and a trigger. The 45-year-old worker was a police offi- cer with the Estevan Police Service (EPS) in Estevan, Sask. since 1998. After completing a training program in forensic examination in 2001, he became a forensic examination technician in the criminal investigations department. He worked in that role for 14 years. The worker's duties as a forensic examina- tion technician included conducting crimi- nal investigations, processing crime scenes and preparing reports on investigation out- comes. Over the course of his 14 years in the role, he had to work at crime scenes that sometimes were gruesome. In 2015, the EPS transferred the worker to a traffic services officer position. He then be- came a community services officer in 2016. However, during this time he was still finish- ing up some of the investigation reports from his forensic examination work. On Feb. 17, 2017, the worker had an argu- ment with his deputy chief about an investi- gation report that needed to be completed. The report was for a case involving the body of a young man who had apparently died while in a drug-induced state, which had been a stressful case to work and the worker was struggling to complete the report. The deputy chief told the worker that if he didn't complete the report, he might be dis- ciplined for tardiness. This upset the worker, as he had many years of service with a high standard of work. He felt betrayed and be- gan feeling acute stress reactions such as his heart pounding, sweating and a pressure in his head. The worker sought medical attention and was diagnosed with hypertension. He was advised to take a couple of days off, but when he returned to work, he experienced the same symptoms and took more time off. PTSD, anxiety diagnosis The worker began seeing a psychiatrist who identified generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A sec- ond psychiatrist confirmed the PTSD diagno- sis and the worker made a claim for workers' compensation benefits. While the worker was off work, he started having recollections of traumatic events he had experienced — there were six particular crime scenes that had stuck with him involv- ing two suicides, two fatal fires, processing the remains of someone he knew personally and the post-mortem of an elderly woman. He began suffering from depression and panic attacks, which led to symptoms of re- experiencing the events, hypervigilance and nightmares. A mental health assessment of the worker was performed in July 2017. The psycholo- gist performing the assessment determined that the worker had "certain obsessive traits" that helped him in the forensic investigation work, of which the worker said he enjoyed the responsibility placed upon him despite the stress involved. The doctor also noted that the worker had ongoing anxiety issues that started after the premature birth of his son and continued after a medical emergency involving the son. The doctor concluded that there was a period of symptoms leading up to his current episode of anxiety that "likely gradually evolved and is based on a mixture of work-related events and some personal incidents" and the threat of discipline from his supervisor triggered a panic attack that "turned on the switch" for PTSD symptoms. The assessment determined that the work- er's symptoms were slowly improving due to the worker's efforts to overcome them, treat- ment and medication, noting that the worker was "very motivated to get back to work." Symptoms triggered by disciplinary discussion The Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) had its psychological consul- tant evaluate the worker's case. The consul- tant said it was his "understanding" that the discipline discussion with the supervisor triggered the worker's psychological symp- toms and that "without labour relations is- sues, the psychological trauma is not likely to be present." The consultant acknowledged, however, that the worker's "cumulative expe- riences might have eventually led to a claim without the disciplinary issue" and that while the worker's PTSD hand increased in severity because of non-work-related issues, his work-related diagnosis had gotten worse. The WCB denied the worker's claim, find- ing that the disciplinary discussion with the supervisor was a reasonable action related to management that was a normal part of em- ployment and not a traumatic event, stating that "the daily pressures or stressors of the work" and "performance corrective actions" were a normal part of employment in police services and forensic investigation. The worker appealed the decision and found a more sympathetic position from an appeals officer, who used the initial evalu- ation from the worker's July 2017 mental health assessment. The officer concluded that the worker "was more likely than not experiencing PTSD symptoms prior to the work event on Feb. 16, 2017" as he "was exposed to horrific traumatic events and a high level of stress and responsibility to the victims, the families and the community for 20 years." However, the EPS appealed this decision to the WCB Appeal Tribunal, arguing that the worker had a history of high blood pressure, he wanted to continue as a forensic investi- gator and no symptoms were noted until he was confronted with work performance is- sues. The tribunal agreed with the EPS and re- versed the appeal officer's decision, finding that the worker's injury was directly related to the disciplinary interaction the worker had with his supervisor. The tribunal pointed to the WCB consultant's determination that, without the stress of the disciplinary discus- sion, the worker's symptoms would not like- ly have led to the worker's claim for benefits. With his claim for benefits once again denied, the worker took his case to the Sas- CASE IN POINT: WORKERS' COMPENSATION Entitlement to workers' compensation benefits for mental illness has been on the rise, but assessing it can be more tricky than with physical injuries. This is a particular concern for emergency workers such as police, firefighters and paramedics, who can experience many traumatic events while carrying out their duties. An official diagnosis by a mental health professional can be a key element of determining entitlement for a psychological injury. However, this type of injury can result not only from a single traumatic event but can also accumulate over time. For the latter, it's important to distinguish between an event that may cause such an injury and one that triggers a pre-existing one. BACKGROUND The deputy chief told the worker that, if he didn't complete the report, he might be disciplined for tardiness. BY JEFFREY R. SMITH Saskatchewan police officer's claim for benefits goes back and forth with differences over whether discussion with supervisor caused or triggered it

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