Gillette Injuries in Workers’ Compensation: A Quick Guide

It is well known that a sudden or violent injury at work results in a compensable workers’ compensation claim. If you are a police officer, this could mean hurting your back when you are trying to control a resisting suspect. If you are a firefighter, this could mean stepping off of the rig during an emergency call and re-injuring your knee. These types of “sudden” injuries are called specific injuries under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act and are compensable.

Compare the “specific injuries” described above with the lesser-known Gillette injury. A Gillette injury is named after the case that established it as a compensable injury under the Workers’ Compensation Act. It is an injury that occurs over the course of time as a result of a repetitive minute trauma brought about by the performance of ordinary job duties. Gillette injuries are common in jobs or positions that require a high degree of physical labor, such as police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), corrections officers, mechanics, metal finishers, truck drivers, painters, roofers or construction workers. It is common for employees working in any of these positions to develop painful back, neck, shoulder, or knee conditions simply from performing their job duties. With either type of injury, depending on the unique circumstances of your case, you are entitled to the same benefits under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act, such as:

• Wage loss
• Medical care and treatment
• Rehabilitation
• Retraining benefits

How do you establish a Gillette injury?

To prove that you sustained a Gillette injury on the job and are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits in the state of Minnesota, you must prove that a causal connection exists between your work duties and your disability. In practice, this means that you need medical support either in the form of clear medical records linking your condition to your work duties or in the form of a narrative report from your doctor, which indicates that your condition was aggravated or accelerated by your work duties. Either way, medical evidence is key.

Which date should I use for a Gillette injury?

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to determining a date of injury in these cases. In fact, there may be a number of dates that could be used to represent the date of disablement for a Gillette injury—such as the date you first sought medical treatment, the date you were first issued work restrictions or your job duties changed, the date you first missed time from work, or the date of an MRI scan providing a “definitive diagnosis” for your injury. A judge is not bound to use the date of injury provided by you, your attorney or the defense attorney in cases involving a Gillette injury. Rather, at trial, a judge will determine the date of injury by looking at all of the relevant evidence and determine what makes the most sense under the circumstances of the case.

In Anfinson v. Anamax Corp. the Court determined that the last date of employment was the date of the employee’s Gillette type injury, even though the employee did not miss time from work, have medical treatment, nor changed jobs as a result of the medical condition. slip. op., No. WC09-4976 (W.C.C.A. Mar. 8, 2010). Recently the court found that when an employee’s condition did not cause symptoms until some time after his last date of employment, the date of disablement can be established as the last date of employment. See Wittstock v. McPhilips Bros. Roofing Co., slip op. No. WC12-5471 (W.C.C.A. Jan. 9, 2013).

Don’t wait to get an attorney involved if you have a Minnesota workers’ compensation claim. The process can be complex and you want to be sure you receive the full benefits you are entitled. Contact Meuser Law Office, P.A. for a free no-obligation consultation and claim evaluation. At Meuser Law Office, P.A. we keep our clients informed of the process as well as what to expect each step of the way. Call us today at 1-877-746-5680.

by Ashley Biermann
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Minnesota Workers’ Compensation: Wage Loss Benefits

If you have sustained an injury while in the course and scope of your employment and missed time off from work, you are entitled to various benefits under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Law for that wage loss. There are two types of wage loss under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act.



The first is what is called Temporary Total Disability benefits, or what we call TTD. What temporary total disability is, is we take what you are making at the time of the injury and you get 2/3 of that. The reason why you only get 2/3 is all workers’ compensation benefits are non-taxable. The theory is that Uncle Sam steals 1/3 of your gross wages and if you get 2/3 non-taxable you should theoretically come home the same. Now, there are caps or limits dependent upon the date of your injury for high-wage earners, but for the vast majority people, you get 2/3 of your wages when you are completely off work.

On the other hand, if you are working but unfortunately you are earning less money, you are entitled to a different type of wage loss. This wage loss is called Temporary Partial Disability, or TPD. What we do for temporary partial disability is we take what you are making at the time of the injury and we subtract what you are making now and of the difference, you are entitled to 2/3.

For example, if you were making $1,000 per week at the time of your injury but are only able to earn $400 a week working part time at a new job having lost your job due to your injury. We would take the $1,000 per week that you were earning, subtract the $400 that you are currently making, and of the difference, $600, you would get 2/3, or $400 to supplement your current income. Again, that benefit is non-taxable so that if you combine the earnings from both the current employer plus the workers’ compensation temporary partial disability you should theoretically come home with approximately the same amount.

Don’t wait to get an attorney involved if you have a Minnesota workers’ compensation claim. The process can be complex and you want to be sure you receive the full benefits you are entitled. Contact Meuser Law Office, P.A. for a free no-obligation consultation and claim evaluation. At Meuser Law Office, P.A. we keep our clients informed of the process as well as what to expect each step of the way. Call us today at 1-877-746-5680.

by Ron Meuser
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PTSD and Psychological Injuries: Eligible Benefits

According to the Mayo Clinic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”) is a “mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event—either experiencing it or witnessing it.” PTSD onset can be unpredictable: it may occur after a single event or several events; it may occur in response to a dangerous or harmful event that occurred to a loved one; or it may occur soon after the event or several months or even years after. Additionally, some individuals who face traumatic events do not develop PTSD. 

Like any injury, PTSD takes time to heal and requires the help of trained medical professionals. If you have or believe someone you know has PTSD, it is important to get treatment. Understandably, the path towards treating PTSD is challenging. However, the attorneys at Meuser Law Office, P.A., can help make that road a little easier. 

If you develop PTSD as a result of an exposure to traumatic events during the course and scope of public employment, then you may qualify for two separate benefits: PERA disability and workers' compensation. For those with careers in high-stress environments, like police officers, firefighters, and correctional officers, these benefits could potentially be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Employees covered under the Public Employees Retirement Association (“PERA”) may be eligible for Duty Disability benefits or regular disability benefits. Duty and regular disability benefits through PERA have different eligibility criteria. However, both are available for either physical or psychological injuries, including PTSD. 

Duty Disability is available to police officers, firefighters, correctional officers and some other positions. To be eligible for Duty Disability, the injury must injury have incurred during, or arise out of, the performance of inherently dangerous duties that are specific to the position. If you are eligible for Duty Disability, PERA calculates your benefit by averaging 60% of your monthly salary during the highest five consecutive years of earnings. Additionally, the money you receive from Duty Disability is non-taxable. 

Regular benefits are available for PERA members with injuries expected to impact the performance of normal duties, even if the injury is non-work related. The employee’s duties do not need to be inherently dangerous. If eligible, the benefit award is 45% of your monthly average salary during the highest five consecutive years. Like Duty Disability, regular disability benefits are non-taxable. 

Along with disability benefits, workers' compensation may be available through PERA. If your PTSD injury occurred after October 1, 2013 and was caused by work-related exposures, you may be covered by workers compensation in Minnesota. Workers compensation provides a arrange of benefits, including: reasonable medical treatments and expenses to cure or relive the effects of your injury; wage loss benefits including disability benefits; permanent partial disability benefits which are available if you suffer a permanent impairment even if you are still able to work; and, vocational rehabilitation services like retraining and the costs of a Qualified Rehabilitation Consultant (QRC). 

Since the onset of PTSD is caused by many different factors and can occur over a long time span, the date of injury is not always as clear as physical injuries. Being represented by the experienced attorneys at Meuser Law Office can help ensure you receive the benefits you are entitled to so you can enter your PTSD treatment with some peace-of-mind. 

Meuser Law Office, P.A. has successfully secured PERA Duty Disability benefits on behalf of a number of individuals suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of in-the-line of duty psychological trauma. For a free, no-obligation legal consultation to learn about your rights, call Meuser Law Office, P.A. at 877-746-5680.

by Mary Beth
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Sign Petition to Help First Responders with PTSD!

Minnesota legislators have proposed a bill that could have major implications for Minnesota’s first responders who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We at Meuser Law Office, P.A., have created a petition for you to easily show your support for this legislation.

Click here to read and sign the petition.

We encourage all current and former law enforcement officers, firefighters, State Troopers, first responders, and family and friends of Minnesota's first responders to sign and share this petition and/or contact their legislators to urge them to support this important bill.

You can also click here to find contact information for your state representatives.

by Ron Meuser
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Part II: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Minnesota Work Comp is an Occupational Disease, Not a Specific Mental Injury

This second article in a two-part series on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder work comp claims examines how the courts should interpret PTSD claims in the context of the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation statute. The first article explained why the date of injury in work comp claims are crucial to the viability of many PTSD claims and illustrated the various types of injuries recognized by the Minnesota Workers' Compensation Act. Part II outlines the historical interpretation of psychological claims in work comp, how the statute defines compensable mental claims, and the mechanism of PTSD in further support of why PTSD is an occupational disease, not a specific mental injury.

Historical Analysis of the Date of Injury in Psychological Injuries

In the quintessential case, Lockwood v. Independent School District No. 877, the Minnesota Supreme Court divided psychological injuries into three categories: “mental-physical,” “physical-mental,” and “mental-mental.” See Johnson v. Paul’s Auto & Truck Sales, 40 W.C.D. 137, 409 N.W.2d 506 (Minn. 1987). “Mental-physical” and “physical-mental” cases were deemed compensable work related psychological injuries. Id. While mental-mental claims were not compensable. Id. 

On October 1, 2013, the Minnesota Legislature changed the law. Post-traumatic stress disorder claims are now compensable. Minn. Stat. § 176.011, subdivision 15. Other “mental-mental” type claims are not compensable, only PTSD. While an employee may suffer from clinical depression as a result of the employee’s work activities, not tied to a physical injury, depression is not a recognized mental-mental claim under the statute and therefore is not compensable

The Pre-October 1, 2013 Framework for Determining the Date of Injury is Void for Mental-Mental Claims

Under the pre-October 1, 2013 framework for determining the compensability of a psychological claim involving PTSD, the mental aspect was anchored to the physical component. The physical component of the injury had a definitive or specific date of injury. Thus, courts did not need to determine the date of the psychological component of the injury.

Now, that the law has changed, the courts analysis of psychological claims involving PTSD must change as well.

Statutory Construction

The basics of statutory construction require that PTSD is treated as an occupational disease under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act, not a specific injury. 

Rather than creating a new section or classification of injuries, the legislature amended Minnesota Statute 176.011, subdivision 15, to define occupational disease as “mental impairment as defined in paragraph (d) or a physical disease…”  Paragraph (d) defines mental impairment as a “diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Paragraph (a) of Minnesota Statute § 176.011, subdivision 15 reaffirms that employees with “physical-mental” and “mental-physical” injuries are eligible for work comp benefits. This physical-mental, mental-physical, and mental-mental distinction between psychological injuries was originally created through case law, not statute.  

Had the legislature desired for the courts to use the specific injury framework and used the date of exposure of the date of injury, the legislature would have created another subsection of the Minnesota workers’ compensation statute entirely devoted to psychological injuries. But, the legislature explicitly defines PTSD as an occupational disease and therefore, as an occupational disease, the date of disablement is the date of injury in PTSD claims.

The Nature of a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Injury

The current diagnostic formulation of PTSD is the DSM-5 or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The DSM-5 divides the diagnostic criteria into seven categories: 

Criterion A: experiencing or witnessing the trauma itself
Criterion B: the intrusive symptoms (1 of 5 symptoms, such as recurrent memories, distressing dreams, flashbacks, intense distress at triggers, physiological reactions)
Criterion C: avoidance symptoms
Criterion D: negative alterations of cognition and mood
Criterion E: arousal symptoms (2 of 6 symptoms, irritable behavior/angry outbursts, reckless behavior, hyper-vigilance, startle response, concentration problems, sleep disturbance)
Criterion F: onset and duration of disturbance (more than one month)
Criterion G: functional disturbance- impairment in social, occupational, or areas of functioning
Criterion H: symptoms have causal relationship to trauma, not alcohol or substance related

PTSD is treated through a combination of psychotherapy and medication which may include: prolonged exposure therapy, cognitive processing therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR), and cognitive behavioral therapy. PTSD may actually change the physical and chemical structure of the brain.

People with PTSD are at a high risk of co-morbid disorders such as alcohol or drug abuse and depression. So because an employee also may abuse drugs or alcohol or struggle with clinical depression or anxiety, the employee may still have PTSD.

Because of the nature of PTSD, classifying it as a specific injury with a specific “exposure” date is illogical. Physicians are not able to even diagnose PTSD until at least one month after the traumatic event. Not all people who are exposed to a traumatic event develop PTSD. Moreover, as set forth in Criterion A in the DSM-5, PTSD develops from the exposure to one or more traumatic events. Focusing on one traumatic event when in fact the police officer or employee may have experienced numerous life-threatening traumatic events does not make sense. It is questionable whether a physician could even pinpoint to a degree of medical certainly which event accounts for which percentage of the employee’s PTSD; therefore the date of disablement is the logical date of injury. 

PTSD claims have at least two disparate events

First the traumatic exposure(s), then the debilitating symptoms that cause the employee’s impairment at a later point in time. As defined in Criterion G in the DSM-5, PTSD requires a later functional disturbance or a impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning. This functional disturbance triggers the second event.

At Meuser Law Office, P.A. we have been representing employees, including many police officers, correctional officers, and firefighters, with PTSD for over ten years both under the old and the new law. If you have PTSD and believe you developed it as a result of exposure to traumatic events at work you should consult with an attorney experienced in this area of law.

If you are a police officer, correctional officer, or firefighter you may also be entitled to PERA or MSRS benefits and the continuation of health care as a result of developing PTSD. Additionally, if you are a licensed police officer with PTSD you may be entitled to benefits under Minnesota Statute §299A.475, which includes up to a year of unreimbursed wage loss benefits and a year’s worth of unreimbursed medical expenses for treatment of PTSD.

Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation. An attorney with Meuser Law Office, P.A. will review your claim and explain your rights under PERA or MSRS, Minnesota Statute §299A.475, and the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act. Don’t let your employer or the insurance adjuster deny your claim without consulting with an attorney knowledgeable in this nuanced area of the law.

Click here to read the first article in this two-part series.

by Mary Beth
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If I am a Veteran Can I Still Make a Work Comp Claim and Apply for PERA Duty Disability Benefits as a Result of My Work-Related PTSD?

If you are a veteran and develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of being exposed to traumatic event(s) during the course and scope of your employment, you can absolutely bring a workers’ compensation claim under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act as well as obtain Duty Disability benefits from the Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA). In fact, many of our police officer, firefighter, State Patrol, and corrections officer clients at Meuser Law Office, P.A. who have developed work-related PTSD have served in the military, including service in combat roles. Veteran status does not preclude an injured worker with PTSD from obtaining wage loss benefits, medical benefits, and rehabilitation benefits under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act as well as Duty Disability benefits from PERA.

Even the exposure to past traumatic events as the result of military service does not preclude police officers or corrections officers from bringing a workers’ compensation claim or obtaining PERA Duty Disability benefits. Minnesota Workers’ Compensation law does not require that the work-related injury be the sole cause of a condition. Past traumatic events not related to work activities can still contribute towards the development of an injured workers’ PTSD and his or her condition may still be compensable.

Minnesota Workers’ Compensation law requires only that the work injury be a substantial contributing cause or factor to the employee’s condition.  Swanson v. Medtronics, 443 N.W. 2d 534 (1989).  Moreover, an injury is compensable where it aggravates or accelerates a pre-existing condition.  Wallace v. Hanson Silo Co., 235 N.W. 2d 363 (Minn. 1975). In these cases, medical experts must document that an employee’s work activities aggravated, accelerated, and/or combined with a pre-existing condition to result in his or her new injury sustained in the course and scope of his or her employment.

When determining if a condition is compensable, judges consider factors such as:

• The nature and severity of the pre-existing condition and the extent of restrictions and disability resulting there from.
• The nature of the symptoms and extent of medical treatment prior to the aggravating incident.
• The nature and severity of the aggravating incident and the extent of the restrictions and disability resulting there from.
• The nature of the symptoms and the extent of medical treatment following the aggravating incident.
• The nature and extent of the employee’s work duties and non-work activities during the relevant period.
• Medical opinions on the issue.  McClellan v. Up North Plastics, slip. Op. (W.C.C.A. October 18, 1994).

PERA Duty Disability law does not have as much extensive case law surrounding the issue of pre-existing conditions. The definition of “Duty Disability” as set forth in Minnesota Statutes § 353.01, subdivision 41 (2013), requires only that the individual suffer from “a condition” that “is the direct result of an injury” (emphasis added). Like in the work comp system, claimants need expert medical opinions explaining the relationship between the work exposures and the subsequent PTSD. Moreover, PERA, unlike work comp, is a technically a neutral agency where the work comp system is an adversarial process.

If you have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of traumatic work exposures contact Meuser Law Office, P.A. for a free no-obligation consultation. The attorneys at Meuser Law Office, P.A. are experienced and knowledgeable in this unique area of the law and can help you obtain the benefits to which you are entitled under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act as well as PERA Duty Disability benefits. You may also be entitled to wage loss benefits under Minnesota Statute §299A.475 in conjunction with your other claims.
Call us today at 1-877-746-5680.

by Mary Beth
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