Farmery v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board

Submitted: October 8, 1999 Kelly Farmery (Claimant), a former Philadelphia police officer, petitions this Court for review of an order of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Board), which reversed a decision of a Workers' Compensation Judge (WCJ) that had awarded her benefits because of a mental disability pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Act (Act). 1 In 1991, after having worked as a patrol officer for the City of Philadelphia Police Department (Department) for one year, Claimant began to develop symptoms of pain and tenseness in her abdomen when her ""car number"" was called out and when she was asked to perform ""priority jobs"" 2 or to assist other officers, although she admitted that her job was basically the same as the job of every other patrol officer in the district. Following an incident involving a man with a knife in February of 1993, her pain became so severe that she was required to go to the emergency room at Frankford Hospital. Claimant initially treated with a gynecologist, but that doctor referred her to a gastroenterologist, Harvey B. Lefton, M.D., who informed her that her pain was from job-related stress. When she attempted to return to full-time work in February of 1993, her pain got worse. Claimant filed a claim petition on or about June 10, 1993, alleging that, as of May 1, 1993, she became disabled from a ""spasmodic condition as a result of work- related stress,"" and the Department removed Claimant from active police work and assigned her to a desk job to alleviate her problems. Claimant worked this desk job from June 11, 1993 through December 20, 1993.3 During this time her symptoms improved. At the end of this six-month period, however, Claimant stopped working and then used accrued sick leave until the Department terminated her from employment.