ST. PAUL, Minn. (Legal Newsline) - A social worker who claimed crippling post-traumatic stress disorder after hearing about the “horrific” murder committed by one of her clients can continue to collect benefits for PTSD, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled.
A judge and the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals agreed that Janine Tea had provided adequate psychological evidence to support a diagnosis of PTSD, the high court ruled. Ramsey County sought to end benefits, citing a psychiatrist's report attributing Tea’s mental difficulties to a history of depression, anxiety, attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADGD) and job burnout.
“A different compensation judge could have certainly reached a different conclusion, and our ruling is not based upon the premise that Tea unequivocally has PTSD,” the Supreme Court said in an April 17 decision by Justice Anne McKeig. “Yet nothing in the evidence presented `clearly requires reasonable minds to adopt a contrary conclusion.’”
Tea was a social worker who dealt with clients who were mentally ill, although another section - the forensics team -- normally handled dangerous patients. She said she was driving her car when a colleague called to tell her one of her clients had murdered his girlfriend “in an act of horrific brutality.” Upon learning of the murder Tea said she experienced tunnel vision and had to stop her car.
The rest of the week she “saw details about the murder on the news and began obsessively researching the murder outside of her working hours,” the court said. Five days later she reported a work-related mental health injury. Dr. Robert Finn, a Doctor of Nursing Practice, advised her to get psychotherapy and take a month off work.
Tea eventually returned to her job but soon complained of mental distress and began skipping work two to three days a week. In 2021 Dr. Finn diagnosed her with PTSD, which was confirmed by Dr. John Hung, a licensed psychologist. Meanwhile Ramsey County hired Dr. Tomas Gratzer, a psychiatrist, who concluded in 2022 that Tea’s mental complaints were not due to the murder. Ramsey County halted her benefits and assigned Tea to work in a library at reduced wages.
Tea appealed and submitted a report from Dr. Michael Keller, another psychologist who said she did suffer from PTSD. A Workers’ Compensation judge and the appeals board agreed.
“The question here is not whether Tea definitively has PTSD, but rather whether the WCCA’s affirmance of the compensation judge’s findings that Tea sustained work-related PTSD was manifestly contrary to the evidence,” the Supreme Court concluded.
“The question here is not whether Tea definitively has PTSD, but rather whether the WCCA’s affirmance of the compensation judge’s findings that Tea sustained work-related PTSD was manifestly contrary to the evidence."