Defendant's Attorney: Franco A. Lucchin

Description:

Portland, Oregon employment law lawyer represented the Plaintiff, a Portland Police Officer, challenges the denial of his claim for disability benefits for duty-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).


Petitioner began working as a Portland police officer in 2001. Medical records show that in 2015, petitioner began discussing anxiety and other mental health concerns with his physician. Over the next two years, petitioner visited a variety of practitioners for symptoms that they attributed to work stress, including both mental health symptoms and gastrointestinal issues. In November 2017, petitioner reported to a psychiatrist that his suppressed work stress and trauma had "flooded open," and he received a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, and possible PTSD. On December 1, 2017, petitioner attended a psychiatric consultation and was formally diagnosed with PTSD, which the psychiatrist attributed to his work as a patrol officer. The psychiatrist recommended that petitioner take months off of police duty work to treat his PTSD.

Also in December 2017, petitioner completed a Disability in the Line of Duty (DILD) form, listing the date of injury as December 1, 2017, and describing the "injury/ illness" as anxiety, work trauma, and flashbacks caused by "years of work related traumatic events mental and physical." His physician completed a Work Status Report which identified petitioner's condition as acute PTSD and placed him off work from December 22 through February 22, 2018. In January 2018, the fund received a physician's note indicating that petitioner was unable to perform work from [336 Or.App. 415] January 2, 2018, through April 2, 2018, and listed his date of injury as December 1, 2017.

While speaking with a fund representative in the month of January, petitioner mentioned work-related traumatic events that had occurred over his career. On January 30, 2018, petitioner withdrew his claim for benefits, reportedly because he did not want to "retell his issues," was currently in a "good place," and would be released to full duty that week by his mental health provider. Petitioner then returned to duty.

In November 2018, petitioner told a provider that he was experiencing both abdominal pain and mental health symptoms, and he also told the provider that he had missed half of his days of work over the prior six weeks. The following month, he reported to a doctor that he had been unable to work for the prior three weeks because of his anxiety.

In December 2019, petitioner visited a provider to discuss taking extended leave from work to improve his anxiety and mental health. He stated that he had been missing approximately one day of work per week "for a long time," and his supervisor had encouraged him to take a 180-day short-term leave of absence. He began medical leave on January 1, 2020. In March 2020, petitioner reported feeling much less anxious and that he was looking forward to returning to work. He was scheduled to return March 25.

However, on March 25, 2020, the day he was scheduled to return to work, petitioner completed a DILD application form based upon PTSD-petitioner's 2020 claim for disability benefits at issue in this case. He reported that the date of his injury "varies" and was related to a prior "injury/illness" dating from "June 2016 to present." Medical notes show that upon being informed to prepare to return to patrol duties if necessary, he "flipped out" and filed his workers' compensation claim for PTSD, seeking disability benefits.

Zanetti v. City of Portland, 336 Or.App. 413, A181104 (Or. App. Nov 27, 2024)

Outcome: Plaintiff's claim was denied.

Affirmed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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