Court decides public workers’ injury disputes and PTSD claims

The workers’ compensation court decides listed benefit and disability disputes for covered public employees. This covers eligible state employees and Rhode Island airport corporation employees, but not sworn Rhode Island state police officers. The court may appoint an impartial medical examiner and may enforce its orders and agreements. These rules apply to petitions filed on or after July 1, 2025.

The law presumes that certain police officers’ and firefighters’ PTSD is a work injury unless evidence shows otherwise. This covers police officers and firefighters who meet the law’s definitions, including those who qualify after helping during an emergency while off duty. The PTSD must be diagnosed by an independent licensed mental health professional with a master’s degree and relate to traumatic events from work or qualifying off-duty emergency aid. The presumption does not apply when the diagnosis arises from discipline or similar adverse job actions. For off-duty aid, the officer or firefighter must show reasonable grounds to believe immediate help was needed to protect or rescue human life, and sworn declarations are required.

Covered workers must apply for a disability retirement allowance by the stated deadline or their injured-on-duty payments end. This covers people receiving injured-on-duty benefits who are subject to the state retirement board’s jurisdiction for disability retirement, including state employees under separate rules. For most covered workers, the deadline is the later of 18 months after the injury or 60 days after a doctor says the condition has reached maximum medical improvement. A separate 60-day deadline applies to certain permanent, incapacitating injuries. Workers who apply continue receiving payments until the applicable final decision. The deadlines are tied to the injury date, a doctor’s maximum-medical-improvement finding, or a permanent-injury determination, as applicable.