Worker’s Compensation Claims Following an Employee’s Suicide

[摘要] workers’ compensationwork-related injurysuicidedeath benefitschain-of-causation testChain-of-Causation Test in Case of Suicide Determines Compensability of an Employee’s Suicide following a Work-Related InjuryIn Appeal of Pelmac Industries, 267 A.3d 395 (N.H. 2021), the Supreme Court of New Hampshire adopted “the chain-of-causation test” as the proper standard to determine the compensability of an employee’s death by suicide following a work-related injury. The chain-of-causation test is satisfied if the claimant can prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the employee’s suicide resulted from a disturbance of the mind of such severity as to override normal rational judgment, and that such a disturbance was produced by the employee’s prior work-related injury. If the chain-of-causation test is satisfied, an award of workers’ compensation death benefits is permitted, despite established statutory limits on injuries caused by an employee’s willful act.

[学科分类] 儿科学

[关键词] workers’ compensation;work-related injury;suicide;death benefits;chain-of-causation test