What Do You Think: Was Being Shot at 'Abnormal Working Condition' for City Bus Driver?

Reading, PA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Employees generally can’t collect workers’ compensation for a mental injury, such as PTSD, unless it was caused by an abnormal working condition.

But what if the employee received training for the type of event that caused her PTSD? In a case that puts such things as a broken copy machine or lackluster office coffee into perspective, a Pennsylvania court addressed the issue of abnormal working conditions in a case involving a bus driver and two shootings.

In October 2018, the driver was driving the bus when she heard and saw through her rear view mirror a man shooting a gun behind her bus. She saw people running up the sidewalk screaming. The next day, she learned that the man had shot and killed someone. A couple of months later, in December, someone shot the driver’s bus, shattering a window above her head.

After these incidents, the driver had trouble going out to stores and being around people and became extremely sensitive to lights, reflections, sounds, and unexpected events. She also experienced nightmares, panic attacks, and difficulty sleeping. Her doctor diagnosed PTSD and concluded she could no longer safely drive a bus.

The driver sought and received workers’ compensation benefits for PTSD.

The driver’s employer, appealing the WCJ’s decision, argued that the driver was not entitled to benefits because the shooting incidents were not out of the ordinary.

A manager testified that the driver received training on how to respond if various projectiles hit a bus. The manager added that in the prior three- to four-year period, "there were more busted windows by pellet guns, rocks thrown, and various types of gunshots.”

As for the driver, she didn’t recall the training and was unaware of any shootings occurring around busses or at busses during her tenure.

The court explained that an employee who seeks workers’ compensation benefits for a mental injury must show that what she suffered is something other than a subjective reaction to normal working conditions. In other words, the employee must show that the mental injury resulted from abnormal working conditions

Were the shootings an ‘abnormal work condition?’

A. No. There was no evidence that witnessing shootings and being shot at were a normal part of the job.

B. Yes. The fact that she was trained to respond to such incidents showed the October and December shootings were not unusual.

If you chose A you sided with the court in Berks Area Reg’l Transp. Auth. v. Katzenmoyer, No. 1058 C.D. 2021 (Pa. Comm’w Ct. 11/08/22), which held that there was no evidence that such events occurred with enough regularity that the driver could have anticipated them, or that she received specific training on how to respond to them.

The question of whether the events may be considered abnormal must be considered in the context of specific employment, the court stated.

“Claimant credibly testified that she was not aware of other drivers being shot at while driving,” the court wrote. The court added that the employer presented no statistics or reports regarding prior incidents. Thus, it wasn’t clear how severe or regularly they were.

The court acknowledged that the employer trained the driver on how to respond to emergency situations, including those where a projectile was aimed at a bus. However, “this general training is insufficient to support a conclusion that Claimant should have anticipated, and was trained to respond to, being shot at while driving a bus,” the court wrote.

The court affirmed the award of benefits to the driver.

This feature does not provide legal advice.

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