Are Intentionally Self-Inflicted Injuries Covered by Work Comp? – The general rule is that intentionally inflicted injuries are not covered under Workers’ Compensation. There’s a statute that says that it covers accidents, and an intentionally inflicted injury is not an accident. However, as always with the law, there are exceptions.
When are self-inflicted injuries covered?
If someone got injured because of recklessness or gross negligence, it will be covered because that’s not considered an intentional injury; it was a consequence of a foolish act, but there was no deliberate intent to cause injury.
Another big exception is suicide. If the industrial injury causes a mental condition that, in turn, causes suicide, it can be covered. If someone has a traumatic brain injury and suffers from mental disturbances, changes in how they act and how they feel, causes pain and hopelessness, and they commit suicide because of that, it will be covered.
What happens if there’s no physical injury?
If the mental stress that caused the suicide was due to something that happened at work, but it was not because of a physical injury, you have to prove more than you have to do for a physical case, you would have to show that what happened at work was not part of the normal experience.
An ambulance driver, for example, would be expected to see people who have died, horrific injuries, blood, etc., and those kinds of emotionally disturbing scenes are in the normal course of the job, but if you work in an office and someone dies in front of you, that’s outside of your usual experience.
There’s also something called litigation stress. When fighting over benefits because of a work injury, people can feel extraordinary pressure and difficulties answering to interrogatories, going to medical examinations, having to testify at work, they can be frustrated because their claim was denied, and we’ve had clients get injured because of that, but unfortunately suicide due to mental stress from litigation is not compensable.
We’re here to help
The cases can be very complicated, and there are many exceptions, so if you or your loved ones have been injured on the job in Colorado, we can help you. Call or text us at 970-356-98-98. All of our consultations are free and confidential.
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