Case Title: Pinkerton v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Div.

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: wyoming

Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Date: 1997-06-10T00:00:00Z

Document:
Pinkerton v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Div.1997 WY 73939 P.2d 250Case Number: 96-294Decided: 06/10/1997Supreme Court of Wyoming

Lorraine PINKERTON

 Appellant(Petitioner)

v. 

STATE of Wyoming ex rel., WYOMING WORKERS' SAFETY AND 
COMPENSATION DIVISION, 

 Appellee(Respondent).

Appeal 
from the District Court, Niobrara County

 The 
Honorable Barton R. Voight, Judge

Representing 
Appellant: 

Donald L. Painter, Casper.

 Representing 
Appellee: 

William U. Hill, Attorney General; John W. Renneisen, 
Deputy Attorney General; Gerald W. Laska, Sr. Assistant Attorney General; 
Bernard P. Haggerty, Assistant Attorney General.

Before TAYLOR, C.J., and 
THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN and LEHMAN, JJ.

GOLDEN, Justice.

 [¶1]      Appellant 
Lorraine Pinkerton appeals the denial of her claim for worker's compensation 
benefits. She challenges the constitutionality of WYO. STAT. § 
27-14-102(a)(xi)(J), which excludes workers' compensation benefits for mental 
injury which is not accompanied by physical injury, on the grounds that it 
violates equal protection.

[¶2]      Our recent 
decision in Frantz v. Campbell County 
Memorial Hosp., 932 P.2d 750 (Wyo. 1997), addressed this precise issue and 
is dispositive. The statute is constitutional and the order denying benefits is 
affirmed.

ISSUES

[¶3]      Pinkerton states 
the issue to be:

1. Whether W.S. 1977 § 27-14-102(a)(xi)(J) is 
unconstitutional as a denial of equal protection and due process for arbitrarily 
providing for the compensability of mental injury accompanied by physical trauma 
and the non-compensability of mental injury unaccompanied by physical 
trauma.

[¶4]      The Division of 
Workers' Compensation (Division) restates it as:

A. Whether the denial of benefits for the Appellant's 
mental injury violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth 
Amendment.

FACTS

[¶5]      Pinkerton worked 
at the Wyoming Women's Correctional Center as a correctional officer. On March 
9, 1996, while working the graveyard shift, Pinkerton discovered the body of an 
inmate who had committed suicide by hanging. Although she does not remember 
doing so, Pinkerton untied the knot from around the deceased's neck and helped 
to lay her down. This dissociative incident was followed by flashbacks, an 
overwhelming fear of the dark, extreme anxiety, and fatigue from disrupted sleep 
because of nightmares which rendered Pinkerton unable to return to work for 
several days after the incident. When she did return to work, additional 
symptoms surfaced leaving her unable to make rounds and check the safety of 
those inmates under a suicide watch for fear of what she might find. Pinkerton 
had seen the Center's psychologist after the incident and was prescribed an 
anti-depressant by her family physician, but her symptoms did not diminish. On 
April 7, Pinkerton resigned her position. In June, she began seeing a 
psychotherapist at Eastern Wyoming Mental Health Center. Pinkerton was diagnosed 
with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by discovering the dead inmate and 
began counseling sessions. Because of the loss of her job, she was unable to 
afford the recommended dosage of her anti-depressant. She has somewhat improved 
with counseling.

[¶6]      Pinkerton filed a 
worker's compensation claim for her mental injury, which was denied by the 
Division. She challenged the constitutionality of the statute which precludes 
recovery for mental injury unaccompanied by physical injury and received a 
contested case hearing. At the hearing, she and her counsel both stated that she 
did not suffer a physical injury because of this incident. Without ruling on the 
statute's constitutionality, the hearing examiner denied her claim. She 
petitioned the district court for review and it certified the constitutional 
question to this Court in accordance with WYO. R.APP. P. 
12.09.

DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

[¶7]      Rule 12.09 of the 
Wyoming Rules of Appellant Procedure provides for judicial review of agency 
action according to WYO. STAT. § 16-3-114(c) (1990), which 
states:

            
The reviewing court shall:

* 
* * * * *

(ii) Hold unlawful and set aside agency action, 
findings and conclusions found to be:

* 
* * * * *

(B) Contrary to constitutional right, power, 
privilege or immunity; . . . .

WYO. STAT. § 
16-3-114(c)(ii)(B) (1990).

Equal Protection

[¶8]      WYO. STAT. § 
27-14-102(a)(xi)(J) (Cum. Supp. 1996) provides:

(xi) "Injury" means any harmful change in the human 
organism . . . arising out of and in the course of employment. . . . "Injury" 
does not include:

(J) 
Any mental injury unless it is caused by a compensable physical injury, it 
occurs subsequent to or simultaneously with, the physical injury and it is 
established by clear and convincing evidence, which shall include a diagnosis by 
a licensed psychiatrist or licensed clinical psychologist meeting criteria 
established in the most recent edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual 
of mental disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. In no 
event shall benefits for a compensable mental injury be paid for more than six 
(6) months after an injured employee's physical injury has healed to the point 
that it is not reasonably expected to substantially 
improve.

[¶9]      Pinkerton 
contends that the statute creates an unconstitutional classification when it 
distinguishes between one class of workers who have suffered a compensable 
injury because of physical injury and another class of workers who have suffered 
noncompensable mental injury. Since this appeal was filed, we decided this 
precise issue in Frantz v. Campbell 
County Memorial Hospital, 932 P.2d 750 (Wyo. 1997). We held that denying 
coverage for mental injury did not violate equal protection guarantees because 
the classifications bear a rational relationship to a legitimate state 
objective, namely, the economic concerns and burdens associated with mental 
injury. Frantz, 932 P.2d  at 753-54. 
Our decision in Frantz is dispositive 
of the issue presented by Pinkerton. The order denying benefits is affirmed.