A.B. 142
- *AB142*
ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 142–ASSEMBLYMEMBER MARZOLA
PREFILED JANUARY 29, 2025
____________
Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to industrial insurance.
(BDR 53-876)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
Effect on the State: Yes.
CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§ 1)
(NOT REQUESTED BY AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT)
~
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to industrial insurance; revising the list of persons
who constitute a first responder for the purpose of
provisions governing the circumstances under which a
first responder may receive compensation under industrial
insurance for certain stress-related claims; and providing
other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Under existing law, with certain exceptions, an injury or disease sustained by 1
an employee that is caused by stress is compensable under industrial insurance if it 2
arose out of and in the course of his or her employment. Existing law deems an 3
injury or disease caused by stress that afflicts an employee who is a first responder 4
to arise out of and in the course of employment if the employee proves by clear and 5
convincing medical or psychiatric evidence that the employee has a mental injury 6
which is caused by extreme stress for which the primary cause was the employee 7
witnessing an event or series of events during the course of his or her employment 8
that involved: (1) the death, or the aftermath of the death, of a person as a result of 9
a violent event; or (2) an injury, or the aftermath of an injury, that involves grievous 10
bodily harm of a nature that shocks the conscience. Existing law defines the term 11
“first responder” for the purposes of those provisions to include: (1) a salaried or 12
volunteer firefighter; (2) a police officer; (3) an emergency dispatcher or call taker 13
who is employed by a law enforcement agency or public safety agency in this State; 14
or (4) an emergency medical technician or paramedic who is employed by a public 15
safety agency in this State. (NRS 616C.180) 16
This bill adds a civilian employee of a law enforcement agency who provides 17
support services to the law enforcement agency to the list of persons who constitute 18
a first responder for the purposes of provisions governing the circumstances under 19
which a first responder is authorized to receive compensation under industrial 20
– 2 –
- *AB142*
insurance for certain stress-related claims. Additionally, this bill specifies that the 21
term “law enforcement agency,” for the purposes of those provisions, means any 22
agency, office, bureau, department, unit or division created by any statute, 23
ordinance or rule which has a duty to enforce the law and employs any person upon 24
whom some or all of the powers of a peace officer are conferred. Finally, this bill 25
also specifies that the term “public safety agency,” for the purposes of those 26
provisions, means: (1) a public fire department, fire protection district or other 27
agency of this State or a political subdivision of this State, the primary functions of 28
which are to control, extinguish and suppress fires; (2) a law enforcement agency; 29
or (3) an emergency medical service. 30
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 616C.180 is hereby amended to read as 1
follows: 2
616C.180 1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, an 3
injury or disease sustained by an employee that is caused by stress is 4
compensable pursuant to the provisions of chapters 616A to 616D, 5
inclusive, or chapter 617 of NRS if it arose out of and in the course 6
of his or her employment. 7
2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, any ailment or 8
disorder caused by any gradual mental stimulus, and any death 9
or disability ensuing therefrom, shall be deemed not to be an injury 10
or disease arising out of and in the course of employment. 11
3. Except as otherwise provided by subsections 4 and 5, an 12
injury or disease caused by stress shall be deemed to arise out of and 13
in the course of employment only if the employee proves by clear 14
and convincing medical or psychiatric evidence that: 15
(a) The employee has a mental injury caused by extreme stress 16
in time of danger; 17
(b) The primary cause of the injury was an event that arose out 18
of and during the course of his or her employment; and 19
(c) The stress was not caused by his or her layoff, the 20
termination of his or her employment or any disciplinary action 21
taken against him or her. 22
4. An injury or disease caused by stress shall be deemed to 23
arise out of and in the course of employment if the employee is a 24
first responder and proves by clear and convincing medical or 25
psychiatric evidence that: 26
(a) The employee has a mental injury caused by extreme stress 27
due to the employee directly witnessing: 28
(1) The death, or the aftermath of the death, of a person as a 29
result of a violent event, including, without limitation, a homicide, 30
suicide or mass casualty incident; or 31
– 3 –
- *AB142*
(2) An injury, or the aftermath of an injury, that involves 1
grievous bodily harm of a nature that shocks the conscience; and 2
(b) The primary cause of the mental injury was the employee 3
witnessing an event or a series of events described in paragraph (a) 4
during the course of his or her employment. 5
5. An injury or disease caused by stress shall be deemed to 6
arise out of and in the course of employment, and shall not be 7
deemed the result of gradual mental stimulus, if the employee is 8
employed by the State or any of its agencies or political subdivisions 9
and proves by clear and convincing medical or psychiatric evidence 10
that: 11
(a) The employee has a mental injury caused by extreme stress 12
due to the employee responding to a mass casualty incident; and 13
(b) The primary cause of the injury was the employee 14
responding to the mass casualty incident during the course of his or 15
her employment. 16
6. An agency which employs a first responder, including, 17
without limitation, a first responder who serves as a volunteer, shall 18
provide educational training to the first responder related to the 19
awareness, prevention, mitigation and treatment of mental health 20
issues. 21
7. The provisions of this section do not apply to a person who 22
is claiming compensation pursuant to NRS 617.457. 23
8. As used in this section: 24
(a) “Directly witness” means to see or hear for oneself. 25
(b) “First responder” means: 26
(1) A salaried or volunteer firefighter; 27
(2) A police officer; 28
(3) An emergency dispatcher or call taker who is employed 29
by a law enforcement agency or other public safety agency in this 30
State; [or] 31
(4) A civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, other 32
than an employee described in subparagraph (3), who provides 33
support services to the law enforcement agency; or 34
(5) An emergency medical technician or paramedic who is 35
employed by a public safety agency in this State. 36
(c) “Law enforcement agency” has the meaning ascribed to it 37
in NRS 289.010. 38
(d) “Mass casualty incident” means an event that, for the 39
purposes of emergency response or operations, is designated as a 40
mass casualty incident by one or more governmental agencies that 41
are responsible for public safety or for emergency response. 42
(e) “Public safety agency” means: 43
(1) A public fire department, fire protection district or other 44
agency of this State or a political subdivision of this State, the 45
– 4 –
- *AB142*
primary functions of which are to control, extinguish and suppress 1
fires; 2
(2) A law enforcement agency; or 3
(3) An emergency medical service. 4
Sec. 2. The provisions of NRS 354.599 do not apply to any 5
additional expenses of a local government that are related to the 6
provisions of this act. 7
H