An Act to Create a Rebuttable Presumption Under the Workers Compensation Law for Line Workers Diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1302
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: O'CONNELL, FARRIN, BELL, HOBBS, MONTELL, MORIARTY, MURPHY
Amends: 39-A MRSA §201

Legislative Document
No. 1302
H.P. 827
House of Representatives, March 23, 2023
An Act to Create a Rebuttable Presumption Under the Workers' 
Compensation Law for Line Workers Diagnosed with Post-
traumatic Stress Disorder
Reference to the Committee on Labor and Housing suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative O'CONNELL of Brewer.
Cosponsored by Senator FARRIN of Somerset and
Representatives: BELL of Yarmouth, HOBBS of Wells, MONTELL of Gardiner, MORIARTY 
of Cumberland, MURPHY of Scarborough.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  39-A MRSA §201, sub-§3-A, ¶B, as amended by PL 2021, c. 629, §2, is 
further amended to read:
B.  The employee is a law enforcement officer, corrections officer, E-9-1-1 dispatcher, 
firefighter or, emergency medical services person or line worker for a consumer-owned 
transmission and distribution utility or an investor-owned transmission and distribution 
utility 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, chapter 2‑B, section 85‑A, subsection 1, paragraph D.  For the 
purposes of this paragraph, "consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility" has 
the same meaning as in Title 35-A, section 3201, subsection 6 and "investor-owned 
transmission and distribution utility" has the same meaning as in Title 35-A, section 
3104, subsection 1, paragraph A.
Each time the Legislature amends this paragraph to provide for a rebuttable 
presumption for a new category of employees, the board shall submit a report to the 
joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over labor matters no 
later than the January 1st after the 5th year of the addition of the category of employees 
and no later than the January 1st after the 10th year of the addition of the category of 
employees. The reports must include 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 reports, and the board shall seek the input of an association the 
membership whose consists exclusively of counties, municipalities and other political 
or administrative subdivisions in the development of the report.
This paragraph is repealed October 1, 2025.
SUMMARY
This bill adds line workers of a consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility 
or an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility 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.