Lucas Peterson, Respondent, vs. City of Minneapolis, Self-Insured, Relator

── Lucas Peterson, Respondent, vs. City of Minneapolis, Self-Insured, Relator ── Court: Supreme Court of Minnesota Date: July 16, 2025 Category: General Decision: Affirmed in part and reversed in part 1. The Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals did not err in affirming the compensation judge’s finding that the employee has a compensable mental injury because that finding is not manifestly contrary to the evidence, which included testimony by a licensed professional psychologist that, based on the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the employee has a present diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 2. The Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals erred in addressing the employee’s argument that he was entitled to compensation benefits for a diagnosis of other specified trauma and stressor-related disorder (OSTD) as a consequential mental injury of PTSD because that issue was moot given the record here, where the employee’s expert psychologist opined that the employee’s OSTD diagnosis was “subthreshold PTSD” and the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals decided that the employee is entitled to compensation benefits for a present diagnosis of PTSD. 3. The Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals did not err in affirming the compensation judge’s award of a penalty for frivolous denial of primary liability. Affirmed in part and reversed in part.