"Save us from her": Employees' complaint letter caused manager to suffer from depression, recognized as work-related injury
Employees complained to management about their manager's "extreme mood swings" and "abuse." Following the incident, the manager suffered from depression, which the court has now recognized as a work-related injury, entitling her to monthly benefits from the National Insurance Institute.
An anonymous letter sent by employees to their manager's superiors, demanding to be "saved from her," led the manager to suffer from depression, which was recently recognized as a work-related injury by the Regional Labor Court in Tel Aviv.
The manager, who worked at the National Insurance Institute, stopped coming to work after the letter was sent. Following the verdict, she is expected to receive monthly benefits from the institute, pending a medical committee's determination of her disability percentage.
The incident occurred several years ago. The employees submitted a letter to the most senior officials at the institute, detailing serious accusations regarding her conduct, claiming she abused them and that they could no longer endure her extreme mood swings. The manager was confronted with the letter by the branch director, who also issued a summons to a hearing. In response, the manager claimed she felt "framed." She subsequently resigned, citing the severe emotional distress caused by the incident.
The panel of the Regional Labor Court in Tel Aviv, led by Judge Osnat Robovich-Barkesh, with public representatives Yael Ilani and Nava Rosenblum, appointed a psychiatrist to evaluate her mental state. The expert concluded that there is a clear causal link between the receipt of the accusation letter and the onset of her condition—an adjustment disorder with depressive symptoms, occasionally reaching the level of a major depressive episode.
Based on this opinion, the court accepted the claim, recognized the mental disorder as a work-related injury, and ordered the National Insurance Institute to pay the plaintiff 7,500 NIS in legal costs and attorney fees.
The manager's lawyer, Elishar Feingersh, stated:
"The verdict clarifies that a specific event at work—such as serious accusations from employees and a summons to a hearing—can be the decisive factor leading to the onset of an illness. The court accepted the expert's opinion establishing a clear causal link, which serves as an important message for insured persons who have experienced similar workplace events: a mental state can be recognized as a work-related injury resulting from a stressful event."
