Defense Verdict Won in a Workers’ Compensation Claim Petition

We won a defense verdict on a claim petition filed by the claimant, a police officer for the township. The claimant was called to the scene of an active shooter barricaded in his home. The officer was placed in a strategic position outside the home with weapon drawn. The standoff lasted many hours, but was resolved peacefully when SWAT arrived. The claimant finished his shift and went home. The next morning he awoke with headaches, nausea, double vision and dizziness. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with mini-stroke, nerve palsy and resultant diplopia—he was disabled from working. He filed a claim petition and presented a neurologist to support a work injury. This doctor’s deposition was riddled with objections since the neurologist tried to read into the record (and at times misread into the record) the diagnoses of a neuro-ophthalmologist. The neurologist then tried to argue that the claimant’s condition was a psychological injury in origin. The employer presented the opinions of a board certified neuro-ophthalmologist, who opined that the claimant has no work-related injury. The court found the employer’s evidence to be more believable, and the claim petition was dismissed.