Injuries from Suicide Attempt Are Compensable
August 28, 2017
Last week the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that the prior ruling of the administrative law judge in favor of the insurer was proper. The federal appeals court ruled that a man who attempted suicide by shooting himself due to anguish over injuries suffered on the job was entitled to compensation for the injuries he sustained from his suicide attempt. The case is Leeward Marine, Inc. v. Dir., Office of Workers' Comp. Programs, No. 16-72242, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 15397 (9th Cir. Aug. 16, 2017).
In 2001 the claimant, William Kealoah, worked as a ship laborer for Leeward Marine Inc., a Hawaii based company. While employed by Leeward Marine, Kealoah fell between twenty-five and fifty feet from a barge to a dry dock, landing on a steel floor. He suffered blunt trauma to his head, chest, and abdomen, a fractured rib and shoulder blade, and knee and back pain. He filed a workers compensation claim with Leeward Marine's insurer, Hawaii Employers' Mutual Insurance Co. Inc.
Two years later Kealoah attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head, causing severe head injuries. He later claimed that the suicide attempt was a result of his fall and the litigation over that previous claim. At trial, a psychiatrist testified on Kealoah's behalf and stated that Kealoah suffered from major depressive disorder caused by multiple traumas and chronic pain from the fall and stress from the litigation, which caused depression, anger, anxiety, and worsened his already poor impulse control.
Kealoah sought workers compensation benefits for the injuries he sustained during his suicide attempt. Initially the claim was denied, with the judge finding that his suicide attempt was not the “natural and unavoidable” result of the original fall, and he was not entitled to coverage because the gunshot wound was a result of Kealoah's willful, but unsuccessful, intention to kill himself.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board reversed the decision of that judge and cited an exception to the provision that stated that a worker's suicide attempt resulting from an “irresistible impulse” caused by a work-related injury is not “willful” and is compensable. On remand a judge once again found that compensation was barred because the attempt was not the result of an “irresistible impulse” because it had been planned in advance of the suicidal action. Once again the case was remanded by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stating that evidence of a planned suicide attempt does not preclude compensability. The administrative law judge awarded benefits under section 3 of the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, and relied on the aggravation rule to find that an accident exacerbated the claimant's already weakened impulse control and was a causative factor in his suicide attempt, and the Benefits Review Board affirmed the decision. Leeland Marine and Hawaii Employers' Mutual Insurance Co. Inc. appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals who decided, finally, that the board correctly affirmed the decision to award Kealoah benefits for his injuries sustained due to his attempted suicide.
Editor's Note: There have been several court decisions on the Longshore Act and suicide, most deciding generally the same thing. If a severe workplace injury is the direct cause of mental illness that results in an irresistible impulse to commit suicide, the injuries suffered in the suicide, or attempt, should be covered under workers compensation coverage. In this case, the psychiatrist testified on behalf of the claimant stating that the initial workplace injury was the cause of the mental illnesses the employee suffered and was also casually related to his irresistible impulse to commit suicide.