Davison v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office

the Opinion of the Court.

I. Introduction

Consolidating two cases for opinion, we interpret a section of the Workers’ Compensation Act that awards benefits to a worker who is permanently disabled by a job-related psychological trauma. We granted certiorari on two cases in which claimants were denied workers’ compensation benefits because they did not present expert medical or psychological testimony regarding both clauses of “mental impairment” as defined by section 8-*102641-301(2)(a), 3 C.R.S. (2003).1 The two clauses of the “mental impairment” definition require the injury: 1) to be “a…