Anxiety, depression tied to workplace injury: Court
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A worker’s depression, anxiety and chronic pain syndrome are casually related to his workplace injury, a Texas appellate court held Tuesday.
In Ace American Insurance Co. v. Elmer, the Texas Court of Appeals, Fifth District in Dallas affirmed a trial court’s finding that a truck driver’s shoulder and knee injuries did lead to his pain syndrome and mental health issues and that they were compensable.
In 2014, Mr. Elmer tore the meniscus of his left knee and his left shoulder rotator cuff when exiting his tractor trailer. Ace American Insurance Co. accepted the injury as compensable. In 2017, he also reported that he suffered from chronic pain syndrome, depression and anxiety as a result of the injury. The Texas Division of Workers Compensation found the chronic pain, depression and anxiety to be compensable, and a trial court agreed. Ace appealed, but a Texas appellate court affirmed the decision.
Although Ace argued that Mr. Elmer’s physicians failed to establish a positive connection between the work injury and his depression, the appellate court disagreed, holding that the trial court properly considered the evidence when it concluded that it was legally sufficient to support the finding that Mr. Elmer’s mental health issues and chronic pain syndrome were related to the work injury. The court also found that Ace’s expert report was inconsistent, leaving the trial court “free to believe one witness and disbelieve others.”
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