Victims of employment discrimination in New York will be well pressed to file for Workers' Compensation concerning any related emotional distress starting on January 1, 2025 or they will be very limited in recovering emotional distress damages as part of their discrimination claim.

Specifically, Workers' Compensation Law 10(3)(b) has been amended, by A5745, to permit all "worker[s to] file[] claim[s] for mental injury premised upon extraordinary work-related stress incurred at work."

Previously, the availability of Workers' Compensation for "mental injury premised upon extraordinary work-related stress" only applied to emergency service workers (police, firefighter, emergency medical technician, paramedic, & emergency dispatcher), but now it applies across the board to all workers. Moreover, Worker's Compensation for such mental injuries was previously limited to "work-related emergency" and now it just must occur "at work." This amended law is very broad and clearly applies to all workers for work related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

That all said, a worker seeking to obtain Workers' Compensation benefits for such mental injuries still has the burden of demonstrating a causal relationship supported by a rational basis between his work and his documented PTSD diagnosis. To prove this connection, a worker should hire both Workers' Compensation counsel and Employment Discrimination counsel as the two claims are now wholly interrelated and a failure of one will hurt the other and vice-versa. 

A new law seeks to reduce bias against injured workers in low-income brackets who cannot afford attorneys' fees.

New York's Workers’ Compensation law has been amended to include awarding attorneys’ fees for the following services:

• 1/3^rd of one week’s compensation for awards made directing the continuation of weekly compensation benefits for temporary total or partial disability;

• 15% of the increased compensation when an award is made that increases the amount of compensation awarded or paid for a previous period(s) of temporary total or partial disability;

• 15% of the compensation due in excess of the employers/carrier’s previous payments when an award is made for loss of use or permanent facial disfigurement;

• 15% of the compensation due in excess of the employer or carrier’s previous payments plus a sum equivalent to 15 weeks of compensation when an award is made for permanent total disability or permanent partial disability;

• 15% of the compensation due in excess of the employer/carrier’s previous payments plus a sum equivalent to 15 weeks of compensation when an award is made for death benefits; and

• 15% of any benefits to be paid by the employers/carrier when an award is made under a waiver agreement.