Should employees get workers’ compensation benefits when they develop health problems caused by job-related stress? Yes, according to one court.

Here’s what happened in this recent case:

A 60-year-old employee was told her job was being eliminated after 25 years of working for the employer. She started crying and got permission from her boss to take the rest of the day off.

At home, about an hour after getting the news, the woman suffered a permanently disabling heart attack. Her doctor said she’d been healthy and that the incident was caused by the stress of hearing she was losing her job.

She was awarded accidental disability benefits. The company appealed, arguing she wasn’t eligible because the injury didn’t occur as a result of her job duties.

But the court sided with the employee’s doctor.

It was undisputed that the heart attack was caused by the woman’s conversation with her boss. And since that conversation occurred “during the scope of her employment,” the heart attack was directly related to her job and the woman was eligible for disability benefits.

Cite: Retirement Board of Salem v. Contributory Retirement Appeal Board.

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Tags: disability benefits, heart attack, workers comp