Congratulations to Jones Jones associate Samantha Sokoloff and her team for the successful appeal of a mental health claim for acute stress disorder on behalf of a transportation client before the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board.
This case comes during a pivotal time for mental health claims. Following the signing of Legislation S.6635/A.5745 into law in January 2025, which expanded workers’ compensation coverage to allow all employees to file claims for specific mental health injuries caused by extraordinary work-related stress, there has been an emphasis on and increase in mental health claims. Many of these new mental health claims have not been settled or litigated yet. This case when seen with others of a similar outcome, will help set the precedent of what is considered extraordinary work-related stress, and perhaps more importantly, what is not.
In this case, a train operator alleged they heard a loud noise while on the job and made an emergency stop. Another operator reported seeing a person crawl out from under the claimant’s train, however, upon investigation, no evidence was found that the claimant’s train struck or injured anyone. The claimant found a metal rod beneath the train but saw no person, body parts or blood.
The claim was initially established for acute stress disorder and Jones Jones appealed the decision. Samantha and her team argued that the incident did not meet the legal threshold for extraordinary work-related stress and therefore was not compensable. The board ruled in favor of Jones Jones’ argument, disallowing the claim.
Congratulations to Samantha and the entire Jones Jones team for the successful appeal of this claim, setting an important pattern into motion. If you are in need of assistance with a workers’ compensation case, please contact our team at concierge@jonesjonesllc.com.
