Driver’s PSTD Blamed on ‘Everyday’ Stress

 

NYC Bus Driver’s Vehicle Attack-Related PTSD Ruled Not Compensable

  • A New York State Appeals Court on Jan. 17 dismissed a post-traumatic stress disorder claim filed by a bus driver whose bus was attacked, finding that the incident was not outside of the norm of issues faced by bus drivers in New York City.
  • The driver filed a claim for WC benefits claiming that she suffered from PTSD following an incident “wherein an unidentified man – unsuccessful in his attempt to board the bus she was driving while it was stopped at a red light – climbed onto the front bumper, pounded on the windshield and damaged a wiper blade and side mirror on the bus,” according to CV-23-0854, filed in State of New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division 3rd Judicial Department.
  • After a Workers’ Compensation Law Judge found that the driver, who returned to work some three months after the incident, sustained a “work-related” mental injury, the Workers’ Compensation Board reversed on appeal.
  • The reversal was based on the board finding the driver “failed to establish that the stress she experienced as a result of this incident was greater than that experienced by similarly situated bus operators,” which the appellate court upheld.
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