Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

HF 327

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/06/2018 08:57am

KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.

Current Version - as introduced

Line numbers 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19

A bill for an act
relating to workers' compensation; modifying occupational disease provisions;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 176.011, subdivision 15.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 176.011, subdivision 15, is amended to read:


Subd. 15.

Occupational disease.

(a) "Occupational disease" means a mental impairment
as defined in paragraph (d) or physical disease arising out of and in the course of employment
peculiar to the occupation in which the employee is engaged and due to causes in excess of
the hazards ordinary of employment and shall include undulant fever. Physical stimulus
resulting in mental injury and mental stimulus resulting in physical injury shall remain
compensable. Mental impairment is not considered a disease if it results from a disciplinary
action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination, retirement,
or similar action taken in good faith by the employer. Ordinary diseases of life to which the
general public is equally exposed outside of employment are not compensable, except where
the diseases follow as an incident of an occupational disease, or where the exposure peculiar
to the occupation makes the disease an occupational disease hazard. A disease arises out of
the employment only if there be a direct causal connection between the conditions under
which the work is performed and if the occupational disease follows as a natural incident
of the work as a result of the exposure occasioned by the nature of the employment. An
employer is not liable for compensation for any occupational disease which cannot be traced
to the employment as a direct and proximate cause and is not recognized as a hazard
characteristic of and peculiar to the trade, occupation, process, or employment or which
results from a hazard to which the worker would have been equally exposed outside of the
employment.

(b) If immediately preceding the date of disablement or death, an employee was employed
on active duty with an organized fire or police department of any municipality, as a member
of the Minnesota State Patrol, conservation officer service, state crime bureau, as a forest
officer by the Department of Natural Resources, state correctional officer, or sheriff or
full-time deputy sheriff of any county, and the disease is that of myocarditis, coronary
sclerosis, pneumonia or its sequel, and at the time of employment such employee was given
a thorough physical examination by a licensed doctor of medicine, and a written report
thereof has been made and filed with such organized fire or police department, with the
Minnesota State Patrol, conservation officer service, state crime bureau, Department of
Natural Resources, Department of Corrections, or sheriff's department of any county, which
examination and report negatived any evidence of myocarditis, coronary sclerosis, pneumonia
or its sequel, the disease is presumptively an occupational disease and shall be presumed
to have been due to the nature of employment. If immediately preceding the date of
disablement or death, any individual who by nature of their position provides emergency
medical care, or an employee who was employed as a licensed police officer under section
626.84, subdivision 1; firefighter; paramedic; state correctional officer; emergency medical
technician; or licensed nurse providing emergency medical care; and who contracts an
infectious or communicable disease to which the employee was exposed in the course of
employment outside of a hospital, then the disease is presumptively an occupational disease
and shall be presumed to have been due to the nature of employment and the presumption
may be rebutted by substantial factors brought by the employer or insurer. Any substantial
factors which shall be used to rebut this presumption and which are known to the employer
or insurer at the time of the denial of liability shall be communicated to the employee on
the denial of liability.

(c) A firefighter on active duty with an organized fire department who is unable to
perform duties in the department by reason of a disabling cancer of a type caused by exposure
to heat, radiation, or a known or suspected carcinogen, as defined by the International
Agency for Research on Cancer, and the carcinogen is reasonably linked to the disabling
cancer, is presumed to have an occupational disease under paragraph (a). If a firefighter
who enters the service after August 1, 1988, is examined by a physician prior to being hired
and the examination discloses the existence of a cancer of a type described in this paragraph,
the firefighter is not entitled to the presumption unless a subsequent medical determination
is made that the firefighter no longer has the cancer.

(d) For the purposes of this chapter, "mental impairment" means a diagnosis of
post-traumatic stress disorder by a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist. For the purposes
of this chapter, "post-traumatic stress disorder" means the condition as described in the most
recently published edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by
the American Psychiatric Association. For purposes of section 79.34, subdivision 2, one or
more compensable mental impairment claims arising out of a single event or occurrence
shall constitute a single loss occurrence.

new text begin (e) If, preceding the date of disablement or death, an employee who was employed (1)
as a licensed police officer under section 626.84, subdivision 1; firefighter; paramedic;
emergency medical technician; licensed nurse providing emergency medical care; or public
safety dispatcher; (2) on active duty as a forest officer by the Department of Natural
Resources; state correctional officer; sheriff or full-time deputy sheriff of any county; or
(3) as a member of the Minnesota State Patrol; conservation officer service; or state crime
bureau; is diagnosed with a mental impairment as defined in paragraph (d), and had not
been diagnosed with the mental impairment previously, then the mental impairment is
presumptively an occupational disease and shall be presumed to have been due to the nature
of employment. The mental impairment is not considered an occupational disease if it results
from a disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion,
termination, retirement, or similar action taken in good faith by the employer.
new text end