A divided Mississippi Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld an award of permanent disability benefits to a former police officer who was beaten while responding to a call that she believed to have been set up by the chief of police, who was involved in a sexual harassment case filed by the only female officer in the force.

The officer was working for the City of Verona, Mississippi, in 2017 when she was dispatched to handle a domestic dispute at an apartment building, a call that resulted in her being violently attacked for 11 minutes, losing consciousness several times and believing she was going to be killed, according to No. 2022-WC-01050-COA.

Following recovery of several physical injuries, the officer was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. The officer said she believed the attack had been a setup by the police chief, angry that she had twice filed claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for sexual harassment, one was still pending when the attack occurred, according to records.

The chief was supposed to be her backup that day, and he had been 30 minutes late arriving. Two women also provided sworn statements that the chief was going to have the female officer killed, according to records.

In 2018, after it was determined that she had reached maximum medical improvement for her physical injuries, a psychiatrist said she was likely suffering from major depressive disorder and somatic symptom disorder but was at MMI for any mental injury, and gave no restrictions nor impairment rating.

Upon appeal, an administrative judge found that she developed PTSD and that she had a 50% loss of wage-earning capacity. The Workers’ Compensation Commission upheld the AJ’s finding of PTSD but increased her lost wage-earning capacity to 80%.

The Mississippi Court of Appeals said there was substantial, credible evidence in the record supporting the commission’s decision.

“The traumatic event that caused (her) PTSD was getting assaulted nearly to death,” the court said. Part of that trauma was her belief she had been set up by the chief, who was supposed to be her backup. The court concluded that this evidence was more than enough to establish a causal connection between the officer’s work and her PTSD.

Three judges dissented, writing that the officer failed to connect her PTSD to the beating, and instead her mental injury the result of her poor relationship with her boss and her pending EEOC lawsuits.

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