Psychological Injury Case Study Example

Published 22nd of August, 2023

An Employee stopped working in April 2021 as she had conflict with a colleague from early on in 2021. It resulted in her receiving Worker’s Compensation for a major depressive disorder. This was the result of bullying she had experienced in the workplace such as being isolated, berated and disrespected on a consistent basis by her colleague.

Her doctor allowed her to return to work on a trial basis one month later, on the condition that she did not work the same hours or near the colleague, so she returned to her pre-injury duties in a separate building. She was
worried that her job was at risk if she didn’t return, even though she had not fully recovered.

The employee suffered a panic attack after seeing the colleague driving their car in the car park. The employer told her that she was moving back to her original work area near her colleague in mid-February. This further exacerbated her psychological symptoms as she was expected to sit 1.5 metres away from them.

The Employer didn’t take responsibility for the new injury and disputed the new claim.

In dispute resolution it was determined that the recent events did not result in a separate psychological injury from the primary injury, given that she had not fully recovered from the first psychological condition/primary
injury.

The psychological symptoms she was suffering were caused by the primary injury from bullying suffered early in 2021. The worker’s compensation was reinstated from March.

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