AB Policies Could Be Basis for Denying Federal Worker’s Mental Stress Claim

An Alberta worker for a federally-regulated employer filed a workers’ comp claim for mental stress. Under the Government Employees Compensation Act (GECA), federal workers are entitled to compensation for workplace injuries but the adjudication of such compensation claims is delegated to local workers’ comp boards. The Alberta workers’ comp board applied its policies for mental stress claims and denied the worker’s claim as not meeting its criteria. The Appeals Commission agreed but a judge overturned that ruling. However, the Court of Appeals reinstated the Commission’s decision, ruling that it’s hard to see why the language of the GECA should be interpreted to impose on the Alberta board a duty to determine and apply dramatically different criteria for different workers who might be in workplaces adjacent to each other and doing similar and even overlapping work [Martin v. Alberta (Workers’ Compensation Board), [2012] ABCA 248 (CanLII), Aug. 29, 2012].