Denial of Worker’s Compensation Benefits

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Linda S. Burt-Redding v. Labor and Industry Review Commission, et al.

Case No.: 2016AP916

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ.

Focus: Denial of Worker’s Compensation Benefits

Linda Burt-Redding appeals a circuit court order affirming a Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC) decision denying compensation for a non-traumatic mental injury. We affirm.

Burt-Redding worked as a patrol officer in the Grand Chute Police Department. On August 29, 2002, and while in the line of duty, she shot an individual who belonged to a street gang, was threatening motorists, and was wielding a knife.  Following the shooting, Burt-Redding allegedly received threats which fell into three categories: (1) threats made directly to Burt-Redding; (2) threats made directly to her son; and (3) instances where the police chief warned Burt-Redding about the shooting victim’s family threatening her life. Burt-Redding alleged the “repeated threats against her life and the unresolved reminders of those threats that continued over a period of several years” caused anxiety attacks, chronic depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. She sought compensation for permanent total disability benefits or, in the alternative, loss of earning capacity.

An administrative law judge (ALJ) found “that the events most certainly caused applicant stress, and her medical records bear this out.” However, the ALJ determined the threats, alone or in combination, did not amount to “extraordinary stress” of greater dimension than the day-to-day emotional strain and tension experienced by a patrol officer who would be similarly situated as Burt-Redding. See Bretl v. LIRC, 204 Wis. 2d 93, 106-07, 553 N.W.2d 550 (Ct App. 1996). Burt-Redding’s application for worker’s compensation benefits was therefore dismissed with prejudice.

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