A Pennsylvania appellate court has reversed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board that had overturned a workers comp judge’s ruling disallowing a mental injury claim by an injured nurse to move forward.
The Commonwealth Court on Monday found the board erred in reversing a comp judge’s decision denying the nurse’s claim relating to the aggravation of her preexisting anxiety and depression issues.
The nurse, employed by Mercy Catholic Medical Center, claimed a January 2020 workplace shoulder injury led to an aggravation of her mental health problems.
The nurse sought temporary total disability benefits for physical and mental injuries. On the mental injury component, the comp board ruled for the nurse because her employer failed to timely respond to the claim.
The comp board said the employer’s failure to timely address the mental portion of the claim “constituted a deemed admission of the aggravation of Claimant’s preexisting anxiety and depression,” and that the judge should have granted the component of the claim involving the aggravation of mental injuries, the Commonwealth Court ruling states.
The appeals court said contrary to the board’s determination, evidence showed the nurse suffered no work-related aggravation of her preexisting anxiety and depression, and that the comp judge had properly ruled against that portion of the claim.