Managing Member Alan G. Brackett and Associate Lejla Alibasic are co-authors of a workers’ compensation “Attorney Analysis” column for Reuters Legal News and Westlaw Today. Following is their recent article, “Mental injury on the job: Emerging legislative efforts to compensate workplace trauma.”
Mental injury on the job: Emerging legislative efforts to compensate workplace trauma
Alan G. Brackett and Lejla Alibasic of Mouledoux, Bland, Legrand & Brackett discuss the development of workers compensation legislation to cover not only physical injuries but the impact of psychological injuries in the workplace.
Most workers’ compensation systems were originally designed to compensate workers for physical injuries sustained at the workplace. When the framework was established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the focus was to address dangerous workplace accidents in factories, railroads, and mines.
The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire is an example of an event that was pivotal in the creation of workers’ compensation laws. That factory fire, which killed 146 young women and girls in New York City, led to the enactment of legislation that expediated workers’ entitlement to benefits by eliminating the requirement to prove employer negligence in court. This led to the creation of the modern framework of workers’ compensation laws.
But what happens when a workplace injury doesn’t leave any physical scars? As societal awareness and understanding of mental health have expanded, the workers’ compensation system has also progressed to recognize the impact of psychological injuries in the workplace.