Nebraska Supreme Court: PTSD Covered Under WC

The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that the state's Workers Compensation statutory coverage includes both PTSD and work-caused drug and alcohol dependency. The court upheld a prior ruling by the Nebraska Workers Compensation Court, which had been appealed by an employer and its Workers Comp insurer.

Mathew Kim, a clothing store manager, was shot twelve times to try and prevent him from testifying against an armed robber. Kim still testified against the robber, his accomplice, and the robber's brother who shot Kim and made phone threats to dissuade him from testifying.

Although Workers Compensation had covered his initial wounds and the resulting time off from work, Kim was also diagnosed with PTSD after the attack and developed severe drug and alcohol dependency, causing him to be off work for nineteen months and to also have to shoulder the medical costs for treatment.

Full story here.