A Emmink Professional Corporation, Workers' compensation claim services

Police Officer entitled to WSIB benefits for stress from SIU Investigation
A recent case we took before the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal involved a police officer who had been wrongfully accused of sexually assaulting a female prisoner.

The officer had a long and unblemished career with his employer police service. The accusations came as a complete shock to him. Shortly after the complaint was laid the Special Investigations Branch (SIU) commenced an investigation. This culminated with an arrest at the officer's home, instead of the more common approach of an arranged surrender in the company of a lawyer. Firmly believing the case would be thrown out at the preliminary hearing stage, the officer was further traumatized when, because of perjury on the part of a witness, the case was bound over for trial. Ultimately, the case went to trial and the officer was acquitted. The trial judge had rather harsh words for the Crown, commenting that to take a case that had little prospect for conviction to trial, served no one well, including, obviously, the defendant.

At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, the officer went off work on the advice of his attending physician, because he was developing stress-related emotional difficulties. A claim was submitted to the WSIB but denied because the Board could not accept that the events in question constituted a "sudden, unexpected traumatic event".

The appeal to the Appeals Tribunal included testimony from the two SIU investigators who had made the arrest.

In its decision, the Tribunal Panel agreed that the arrest at home and the subsequent progression of the case to trial was by any reasonable standard, a "sudden, unexpected traumatic event" and directed the WSIB to pay the officer full loss of earnings benefits for a period of just over one year.

The full text of this decision (Decision No. 929 04) is available on the web-site of the Workplace Safety & Insurance Appeals Tribunal, which may be accessed by following the link below:

http://www.wsiat.on.ca/english/frame.htm

We are currently awaiting a decision from the Tribunal in a similar case, and there are at least two more waiting for a hearing date. Obviously, the impact of SIU investigations is a part of police work that produces inordinate stress, and the Tribunal has recognized this in its decision.