Kathleen Roberts, Managing Shareholder of SRTK’s San Jose office, recently earned a take nothing in a case involving a trucker who claimed a psychiatric injury following an incident involving an alleged racial slur. The applicant, a truck driver, got into an argument with a hostler whose job was to move trailers around the dock area. During the argument, the hostler referred to the truck driver by a colloquial version of a racial slur. While the hostler claimed to have meant no offense, the driver was so offended that he retrieved a 30″ length of pipe and advanced on the hostler. He was restrained by coworkers and no physical contact occurred. Both workers were fired over the incident, and the truck driver claimed a psychiatric injury caused by the hostler’s words. He claimed a significant impact on his ability to work and on his psychiatric condition. There were no medical reports to support a finding of PD. The trial was strictly on AOE/COE. The claimant sought an estimated $40,000 in retroactive TTD over 18 months, and would have included an unknown percentage of PD, which had not yet been evaluated.
Great work, Kathleen!