Brooks v Michigan Department of Corrections, 2009 ACO #189
The Appellate Commission affirmed an open award to a corrections officer who alleged a psychiatric disability after a prison riot. Despite the plaintiff going off of work on two separate occasions for emotional problems relative to his family life, the magistrate determined that the prison riot was a significant aggravating factor in contributing to the plaintiff’s psychiatric disability. Key point: where the magistrate balances the non-occupational and occupational factors contributing to the psychiatric disability, the Appellate Commission will defer to the magistrate’s findings.
