An Act To Support E-9-1-1 Dispatchers and Corrections Officers Diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0467
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: DILLINGHAM
Amends: 39-A MRSA §201

Legislative Document
No. 467
H.P. 343
House of Representatives, February 16, 2021
An Act To Support E-9-1-1 Dispatchers and Corrections Officers 
Diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Received by the Clerk of the House on February 11, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Labor and Housing pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 
401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative DILLINGHAM of Oxford.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  39-A MRSA §201, sub-§3-A, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 294, §2, is 
amended to read:
B.  The employee is a law enforcement officer, corrections officer, E-9-1-1 dispatcher, 
firefighter or emergency medical services person and is diagnosed by an allopathic 
physician or an osteopathic physician licensed under Title 32, chapter 48 or chapter 36, 
respectively, with a specialization in psychiatry or a psychologist licensed under Title 
32, chapter 56 as having post-traumatic stress disorder that resulted from work stress, 
that the work stress was extraordinary and unusual compared with that experienced by 
the average employee and the work stress and not some other source of stress was the 
predominant cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder, in which case the 
post-traumatic stress disorder is presumed to have arisen out of and in the course of the 
worker's employment.  This presumption may be rebutted by clear and convincing 
evidence to the contrary.  For purposes of this paragraph, "law enforcement officer," 
"corrections officer," "firefighter" and "emergency medical services person" have the 
same meaning as in section 328-A, subsection 1.  For the purposes of this paragraph, 
"E-9-1-1 dispatcher" means a person who receives calls made to the E-9-1-1 system 
and dispatches emergency services.  "E-9-1-1 dispatcher" includes an emergency 
medical dispatcher as defined in Title 32, section 85-A, subsection 1, paragraph D.
By January 1, 2022, the board shall submit a report to the joint standing committee of 
the Legislature having jurisdiction over labor matters that includes an analysis of the 
number of claims brought under this paragraph, the portion of those claims that resulted 
in a settlement or award of benefits and the effect of the provisions of this paragraph 
on costs to the State and its subdivisions.  The Department of Administrative and 
Financial Services, Bureau of Human Resources and the Department of Public Safety 
shall assist the board in developing the report, and the board shall seek the input of an 
association, the membership of which consists exclusively of counties, municipalities 
and other political or administrative subdivisions, in the development of the report.
This paragraph is repealed October 1, 2022.
SUMMARY
This bill adds corrections officers and E-9-1-1 dispatchers to the list of employees for 
whom there is a rebuttable presumption under the laws governing workers' compensation 
that when the employee is diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist as having 
post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from work stress that was extraordinary and 
unusual, the post-traumatic stress disorder is presumed to have arisen out of and in the 
course of the worker's employment.