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Means v. Baltimore County3/4/1997
1992. Means was subsequently evaluated in July and October, 1995, by Dr. Joseph M. Eisenberg. Dr. Eisenberg wrote in his evaluation of Means that it was his "opinion that the initial diagnosis in 1992 should have been Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, delayed onset." Means proffered that Dr. Eisenberg would testify that she suffered from PTSD caused by her employment as a paramedic.
Means filed a workers' compensation claim for PTSD in February, 1994, seeking compensation for 110 hours of missed work. She identified February 1, 1992, as the date of disablement, the same date as her transfer back to the Towson station. On January 6, 1995, the Workers' Compensation Commission held a hearing on Means's claim and concluded that she had not suffered an occupational disease arising out of and in the course of her employment. Means filed a petition for judicial review in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. See § 9-737.
The County filed a motion for summary judgment. The County presented two arguments: (1) that as a matter of law, Means failed to establish that she suffered from PTSD; and (2) that as a matter of law, PTSD may not form the basis of an occupational disease claim. The trial court granted the County's motion for summary judgment on the second ground. Means noted a timely appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, and we granted certiorari before consideration by that court. We shall reverse.
II.
A.
In Maryland, workers' compensation encompasses two categories of compensable events: accidental personal injury and occupational diseases. §§ 9-501, 9-502; Lovellette v. City of Baltimore, 297 Md. 271, 279, 465 A.2d 1141, 1146 (1983). Section 9-101(b) defines "accidental personal injury" as follows:
(b) Accidental personal injury .-- "Accidental personal injury" means:
(1) an accidental injury that arises out of and in the course of employment;
(2) an injury caused by a willful or negligent act of a third person directed against a covered employee in the course of the employment of the covered employee; or
(3) a disease or infection that naturally results from an accidental injury that arises out of and in the course of employment, including:
(i) an occupational disease; and
(ii) frostbite or sunstroke caused by a weather condition.
This Court has described accidental injuries as those that involve "the injury and destruction of tissue by the application of external force, such as a blow." Foble v. Knefely, 176 Md. 474, 486, 6 A.2d 48, 53 (1939). Occupational disease is defined in § 9-101(g) of the Act as follows:
(g) Occupational disease.-- "Occupational disease" means a disease contracted by a covered employee:
(1) as the result of and in the course of employment; and
(2) that causes the covered employee to become temporarily or permanently, partially or totally incapacitated.
While the Act does not further define "occupational disease", this Court has further delineated the term
as some ailment, disorder, or illness which is the expectable result of working under conditions naturally inherent in the employment and inseparable therefrom, and is ordinarily slow and insidious in its approach.
Foble, 176 Md. at 486, 6 A.2d at 53.
Not all diseases which meet this definition are compensable. Section 9-101(g) must be read in conjunction with § 9-502(d). Section 9-502 reads, in pertinent part:
(d) Limitation on liability.-- An employer and insurer are liable to provide compensation . . . only if:
(1) the occupational disease th
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