- Registration of employers
- Accident (date) (disablement)
- Stress, mental (chronic)
The issues under appeal were as follows: a) the date of injury/accident in the worker's claim for a mental stress injury of August 21, 2018; b) the correct date of registration of the employer (GCHC); and c) whether the worker's mental stress injury was the result of decisions or actions of the employer in the exercise of an employment function.
The Panel denied the appeal.The date of accident in the worker's claim for mental stress was confirmed as August 21, 2018. Mental stress claims that occur over time are typically characterized as gradual onset disablement claims (see Decision No. 141/08I). OPM Document No. 11-01-04 directs that the date of injury/accident for such claims is established using the date of first medical attention which led to the diagnosis, or the date of diagnosis, whichever is earlier.Further, pursuant to OPM Document No. 12-01-02 "Employer by Application," the employer's coverage was in effect as of December 31, 2018, the date the WSIB received and approved the employer's application for Schedule 1 coverage. Given these findings, the Panel concluded that the worker's claim for mental stress could not be adjudicated under the WSIA because the accident occurred before the employer GCHC, a "by-application" employer, had coverage with the WSIB. Accordingly, it was not necessary to determine the issue of whether the worker's mental stress injury was the result of decisions or actions of the employer in the exercise of an employment function.The Panel interpreted section 74 of the WSIA to preclude WSIB coverage for any accidents sustained by the employer's workers prior to its application for coverage on December 31, 2018. In the Panel's view, the merits and justice provision of the WSIA and WSIB policy did not permit a departure from the clear wording of the legislation. There was no ambiguity or discretion in the WSIA that allowed the Panel to disregard the limit on the employer's Schedule 1 coverage.