Work-related mental illness and suicide claims
If your treatment started with what happened at work, you can file for workers' comp.
If a mental illness developed or got worse after workplace harassment, verbal abuse or threats, a traumatic accident, or an excessive workload, we look into how those events contributed to its onset or worsening.
What is a work-related mental illness claim?
If depressive disorder, adjustment disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or a similar condition develops or gets worse because of a work event or job stress, you can file a workers' compensation (workers' comp) claim. We prove the link between your work and your condition to claim medical costs and other benefits, and we review your diagnosis, treatment history, and level of job stress together. Reporting workplace harassment is a separate process from a workers' comp claim. It's how you tell your employer what happened and ask it to investigate and take protective measures.
Who we help
What happened to you?
Harassment and sexual harassment
What the verbal abuse, insults, ostracism, or sexual harassment involved, how often it happened, and what the company did after you reported it
Customer abuse and threats
Assault, threats, or severe verbal abuse while serving customers, and how the company responded afterward
Witnessing an accident or death
How you went through or witnessed a serious accident or a coworker's death, and the symptoms that followed
Overwork and job changes
Short staffing, a sudden jump in workload, excessive responsibility, and ongoing conflict
Dismissal, discipline, and other personnel actions
How and why the action was taken, and how your illness developed. A personnel action alone doesn't mean your claim will be approved.
Evidence and illness timeline
Tell us what happened at work and when your symptoms started.
What happened at work
When · who · what they did We gather messages, emails, recordings, witness statements, and what you reported to the company and how it responded.
When your symptoms changed
Changes in sleep, eating, anxiety, and your ability to go to work We confirm your first doctor's visit, when you took leave, transferred, or quit, and the changes your family and coworkers noticed.
Diagnosis and treatment
Medical certificate · treatment records · past treatment history We compare your condition before and after the events, and if you had stress outside work, we explain that too.
Workers' comp and survivors' benefits
We claim medical costs, temporary disability (lost-wage) benefits, permanent disability benefits, and survivors' benefits in the event of death.
Medical costs and temporary disability (lost-wage) benefits
We claim medical care benefits for an approved mental illness and temporary disability (lost-wage) benefits for the time you couldn't work because of treatment. Your entire leave period isn't automatically covered.
Permanent disability benefits after treatment
If a disability remains after treatment ends, we check the eligibility requirements and the disability rating criteria.
Survivors' benefits in self-harm and suicide cases
Intentional self-harm is generally excluded from benefits. It can be covered if it meets a statutory exception, for example, if it's found to have happened while the worker's ability to make normal judgments and choices was significantly impaired because of work.
We investigate everything from the work event through the onset of illness, treatment, and the person's condition before death, and compare it with statements from the people around them. Whether there's a psychiatric diagnosis from before death doesn't by itself decide whether the death is work-related.
Sobaek's practice areas
We prove the job stress and how the illness developed, and we handle your mental illness claim for you.
- STEP 01
Consultation and claim preparation
We listen to what happened at work, when your symptoms started, and how treatment has gone. We tell you what records you need to prove the link between your work and your illness.
- STEP 02
Filing and the investigation
We file medical care benefit and survivors' benefit claims on your behalf. We submit statements and supporting evidence to KCOMWEL. If the company's account doesn't match the facts, we point out exactly what's different and back it up.
- STEP 03
Denials and related labor cases
Depending on the reason for a denial, we file a request for review or a request for reconsideration. Separately from your workers' comp claim, we explain how to report harassment and request protective measures, and how to file an unfair dismissal remedy application if you were fired.
Frequently asked questions
Find answers to your questions before a consultation.
I was already being treated for depression. Can this still be a workers' comp case?
A treatment history alone doesn't rule you out. We compare how much your symptoms worsened before and after the work event and look at how your work contributed.
The company said it wasn't harassment. Can I still file a workers' comp claim?
Yes. The company's harassment investigation and KCOMWEL's decision on a work-related illness are separate. Still, findings from the company's investigation into the same events can be used as evidence, so any facts that differ from the company's conclusion need to be explained with evidence.
Can I file without my employer's consent? Can I keep it from my employer?
You don't need your employer's consent to file. But KCOMWEL may notify the company during its investigation and ask for its input or records, so we can't promise the company won't find out.
There's no recording, and the other person's account differs from mine. What happens?
A recording isn't the only evidence. We look at messages from the time, witness statements, what you told the company, changes in your work, and your medical records. Your statement should separate what you experienced firsthand from what you heard from others.
Can I still file if I started treatment after I left the job?
Yes. We need to look at how the timing of your symptoms relates to the work event, your condition before and after you left, and why treatment was delayed. Getting treatment after you left doesn't by itself mean there's no work-relatedness.
I'm still going to work while getting treatment. Can I file a claim?
Yes, you can. Workers' comp approval, medical care benefits, and temporary disability (lost-wage) benefits for time you couldn't work are separate issues. We check separately whether you were working, whether you were paid, and how long you couldn't work because of treatment.
If my family member never saw a psychiatrist before they died, are survivors' benefits off the table?
We don't decide based only on whether they got treatment while alive. We look at the work events, changes in their behavior and condition before death, and statements from family and coworkers to determine whether the statutory exception can be proven.
Request a consultation on a workers' comp or labor case
Talk to us about a work-related mental illness claim.
Tell us what happened at work and how your treatment has gone. We'll advise you based on the medical records and documents you have now.
You can also email us directly
For corporate advisory work, new cases, or meeting requests,
email us at the address below.