- Second Injury and Enhancement Fund {SIEF} (severity of accident)
- Second Injury and Enhancement Fund {SIEF} (severity of preexisting condition)
- Preexisting condition (psychological condition)
At the time of the accident, the worker was employed as a registered practical nurse. On November 12, 2020, the worker was redeployed to assist and care for residents at a retirement home which had been "abandoned" by the regular employees during a COVID-19 outbreak. The worker was granted initial entitlement for PTSD for her experiences in the workplace. The issue under appeal was the appropriate quantum of SIEF relief to be granted to the employer.
The Vice-Chair allowed the appeal. The employer was entitled to 50% SIEF cost relief based on a moderate accident and a moderate pre-existing condition. The worker's pre-injury duties involved working on a crisis team in the emergency department of a hospital. While the worker volunteered to be redeployed to the retirement home in question and worked only three shifts before testing positive for COVID-19 herself, the Vice-Chair was satisfied that the balance of the evidence supported the conclusion that what the worker experienced during those three days was beyond what she would have normally experienced during her work and was something that could reasonably be expected to cause a disabling injury.The Vice-Chair agreed with the ARO that despite the worker's pre-accident employment, what she experienced during her time at the retirement home was sufficiently stressful such that it would be expected to cause a disabling injury. The severity of that accident was appropriately recognized as "moderate." There was evidence of a pre-existing condition here, i.e., anxiety and depression. The ARO, after reviewing the Tribunal's Medical Discussion Paper, "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," noted that "Individuals with higher levels of anxiety and emotional pain are more vulnerable to the development of PTSD following exposure to trauma." The Vice-Chair found that the medical significance of the worker's pre-existing condition ought to have been characterized as "moderate" and made the worker more vulnerable to develop PTSD.