A worker contacted the Commission with concerns about the WSIB’s decision to deny entitlement for a recurrence of her previously allowed chronic mental stress claim.

She had been without income for almost three weeks due to ongoing harassment in her workplace and she noted that her psychological condition was worsening. The worker raised her concerns with a manager but did not hear back from the manager as promised.

We noted that the case manager’s decision relied on the Chronic Mental Stress policy (15-03-04) to deny the recurrence. It did not appear that the policy for Recurrences (15-02-05), which outlines criteria used to consider entitlement for significant deteriorations, was considered.

As a result of an inquiry by the Commission, the manager agreed that the Recurrences policy should have been applied. She anticipated that a new decision from the case manager would be provided within a week.

Based on the claim information, the worker’s recurrence was ultimately allowed, along with retroactive loss of earnings benefits.