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Flint v. Town of Bernalillo6/16/1994
DONNELLY, Judge.
Claimant appeals from the Workers' Compensation Judge's order denying his claim for compensation benefits. The sole issue presented on appeal is whether the Judge erred in determining that Claimant failed to give timely notice to Employer of his work-related injury giving rise to his claim for workers' compensation benefits. We reverse and remand.
FACTS
On May 28, 1986, while performing his duties as a police officer, Claimant witnessed a woman shoot herself. Following the incident, Claimant continued with his official duties; however, in the ensuing years, Claimant began experiencing a pattern of problems at home and work.
After the shooting incident Claimant began to have communication problems and frequent arguments with his wife. In 1987 Claimant and his wife began marriage counselling. Claimant testified that he never thought to mention the shooting incident during counselling sessions, and none of the counselling professionals connected any problem he may have had to the shooting incident. Claimant and his wife separated in 1987 and divorced in 1989. Claimant began seeing another woman after his divorce and again experienced relationship problems. He and his girlfriend later attended counselling sessions together; however, eventually this relationship also failed. He described himself as short-tempered and easily flustered.
In addition to the personal problems Claimant experienced, he began having difficulty at work. He was twice disciplined by Employer in 1988, once for failing to properly secure a holding cell door and once for unreasonably detaining a motorist who was trying to get his son to the hospital. In 1989 he was disciplined for failing to properly investigate an incident. The following year he was again disciplined, this time for damaging a breath-alcohol testing machine. Claimant testified that at the time of these occurrences he attributed his mistakes to simple negligence.
Claimant received a series of psychological examinations in 1990 in order to test his fitness for continuing to work as a police officer. The doctor who administered the tests did not give any indication to Claimant that he was suffering from any kind of a mental problem. The doctor reported to Employer that Claimant was fit for duty.
During the time Claimant was employed as a police officer, he was also a member of the New Mexico National Guard. He was called to service for the Gulf War on December 12, 1990. He was sent to the Middle East and worked in security at a military base where he was responsible for guarding against attacks. While in the Middle East, he began to have recurring dreams concerning the 1986 shooting incident. Claimant also testified that after returning to the United States in March 1991 and resuming his duties as a police officer, his work-related disciplinary problems became worse.
On September 9, 1991, Employer placed Claimant on administrative leave. On or about September 17, 1991, Claimant went to the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Albuquerque for counselling. At that time, he was first diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of his witnessing the 1986 shooting incident. Dr. Gustavo M. Okrassa, the psychiatrist who diagnosed Claimant's PTSD, indicated that in his opinion Claimant's condition was caused by the 1986 shooting incident, and that his Gulf War service made Claimant's condition much worse. Claimant testified that the PTSD diagnosis answered a lot of questions he had concerning the pattern of problems in his life following the shooting incident. He stated that, "in retrospect," it was evident to him that his problems b
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