McCamey v. District of Columbia Department of Employment Services

**What happened:** McCamey, who worked for DC Public Schools, filed for workers' compensation benefits after suffering a psychological injury on the job. The DC Department of Employment Services denied the claim, apparently using a strict standard that required proving a person with "normal sensibilities" would have suffered the same type of injury under similar circumstances. **What the court decided:** The court sided with McCamey and overturned the denial. The judge ruled that using this "normal person" test was wrong and went against the purpose of DC's workers' compensation law. The court sent the case back to the employment department, ordering them to reconsider McCamey's psychological injury claim using the correct legal standards. **Why this matters for workers:** This ruling is significant because it makes it easier for workers to get compensation for psychological injuries caused by workplace incidents. Instead of having to prove that any "normal" person would react the same way, workers can now have their individual circumstances considered more fairly. This recognizes that people respond differently to traumatic workplace events, and workers' compensation should account for those individual differences when evaluating psychological injury claims.