AN ACT CONCERNING WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES WITH POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subdivision (16) of section 31-275 of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014):

(16) (A) "Personal injury" or "injury" includes, in addition to accidental injury that may be definitely located as to the time when and the place where the accident occurred, an injury to an employee that is causally connected with the employee's employment and is the direct result of repetitive trauma or repetitive acts incident to such employment, and occupational disease.

(B) "Personal injury" or "injury" shall not be construed to include:

(i) An injury to an employee that results from the employee's voluntary participation in any activity the major purpose of which is social or recreational, including, but not limited to, athletic events, parties and picnics, whether or not the employer pays some or all of the cost of such activity;

(ii) A mental or emotional impairment, unless such impairment (I) arises from a physical injury or occupational disease, (II) in the case of a police officer, arises from such police officer's use of deadly force or subjection to deadly force in the line of duty, regardless of whether such police officer is physically injured, provided such police officer is the subject of an attempt by another person to cause such police officer serious physical injury or death through the use of deadly force, and such police officer reasonably believes such police officer to be the subject of such an attempt, [or] (III) in the case of a firefighter, is diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder by a licensed and board certified mental health professional, determined by such professional to be originating from the firefighter witnessing the death of another firefighter while engaged in the line of duty and not subject to any other exclusion in this section, or (IV) in the case of a state or municipal employee, is diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder by a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist and determined by such psychiatrist or psychologist to be originating from the state or municipal employee visually witnessing a traumatic event in person or visually witnessing the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event in person, provided the visual witnessing of a traumatic event or the visual witnessing of the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event was causally connected with the state or municipal employee's employment. As used in this clause, "police officer" means a member of the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, an organized local police department or a municipal constabulary, "firefighter" means a uniformed member of a municipal paid or volunteer fire department, [and] "in the line of duty" means any action that a police officer or firefighter is obligated or authorized by law, rule, regulation or written condition of employment service to perform, or for which the police officer or firefighter is compensated by the public entity such officer serves, "qualified psychiatrist or psychologist" means a psychiatrist licensed pursuant to chapter 370 and certified by a recognized American medical specialty board in psychiatry or a psychologist licensed pursuant to chapter 383 and certified by a recognized American medical specialty board in psychology, "traumatic event" means an event occurring on or after December 14, 2012, that is extraordinary due to the number or severity of casualties, that involves the death or serious bodily injury of one or more human beings caused by an intentional act of another human being, not by some natural cause or motor vehicle collision, and that does not happen in the usual course of the employee's employment and "immediate aftermath" means the scene at which a traumatic event occurred for a period of time not to exceed six hours after such scene is secured by law enforcement officers;

(iii) A mental or emotional impairment that results from a personnel action, including, but not limited to, a transfer, promotion, demotion or termination; or

(iv) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (B)(i) of this subdivision, "personal injury" or "injury" includes injuries to employees of local or regional boards of education resulting from participation in a school-sponsored activity but does not include any injury incurred while going to or from such activity. As used in this clause, "school-sponsored activity" means any activity sponsored, recognized or authorized by a board of education and includes activities conducted on or off school property and "participation" means acting as a chaperone, advisor, supervisor or instructor at the request of an administrator with supervisory authority over the employee.

Sec. 2. Section 31-294h of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014):

Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, workers' compensation benefits for any (1) police officer, as defined in subparagraph (B)(ii) of subdivision (16) of section 31-275, as amended by this act, who suffers a mental or emotional impairment arising from such police officer's use of deadly force or subjection to deadly force in the line of duty, [or] (2) firefighter, as defined in subparagraph (B)(ii) of subdivision (16) of section 31-275, as amended by this act, who suffers a mental or emotional impairment diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder originating from the firefighter witnessing the death of another firefighter while engaged in the line of duty, or (3) state or municipal employee who suffers a mental or emotional impairment diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder originating from the state or municipal employee visually witnessing a traumatic event in person or visually witnessing the immediate aftermath of such traumatic event in person pursuant to subparagraph (B)(ii) of subdivision (16) of section 31-275, as amended by this act, shall be limited to treatment by a psychologist or a psychiatrist who is on the approved list of practicing physicians established by the chairman of the Workers' Compensation Commission pursuant to section 31-280.

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

In section 2, subdivision (3), "suffers a mental or emotional impairment" was inserted for accuracy and internal consistency.