Employee Harassed By State Police Awarded Benefits

Where there is a specific traumatic event caused by the actions of the employer the petitioner's psychiatric disability is said to be causally related to the employment. An employee was accused of searching through the desk of another employee and a criminal investigation concerning the theft of an expensive bracelet from the other employee's desk was instituted. The injured worker suffered depression, high blood pressure and post traumatic stress disorder as a result of being falsely imprisoned and harassed by the New Jersey State Police detectives. She accused the detectives of yelling at her and insisting that she was lying. The employee became very emotional, began to cry, and became nauseous during the investigation. She was threatened by the State Police with an arrest warrant and informed that she could go to jail for 5-7 years. The employee was denied a request to call her sister or her cousin on the telephone. She was detained by detectives for over 2 = hours in the basement of the Justice Complex. Approximately 3 weeks subsequent to the investigation she was advised that she was no longer a suspect in the theft of the bracelet. Prettman v. State of New Jersey (App.Div.1997).