Natural causation denied for psychological disorders after kidnapping

ATA/643/1998Cour de justice / Chambre administrative13 oct. 1998Dismissed

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Résumé Omnilex

The appellant sought accident insurance coverage for psychological disorders allegedly resulting from a kidnapping. The court held that the event could not have generated stress intense enough to establish natural causation between the kidnapping and the psychic condition. It also treated the medical certificate issued more than seven months later as an additional indication against causation. The appeal was dismissed.

Regeste Omnilex

Art. 9 al. 1 OLAA; natural causation between an accident and subsequent psychological disorders; the existence of a dramatic or traumatic event does not suffice where the circumstances do not permit, with the required probability, the conclusion that the event caused the psychical complaints. A significantly delayed medical attestation may constitute an additional element casting doubt on causal linkage, particularly where it does not corroborate an immediate post-event symptomatology.

Texte intégral

Descripteurs

ASSURANCE SOCIALE; ACCIDENT; AA; CAUSALITE NATURELLE; NEVROSE; ATTEINTE A LA SANTE PSYCHIQUE; AFFECTION PSYCHIQUE; EVENEMENT DRAMATIQUE; ASSU

Normes

OLAA.9 al.1

Résumé

La séquestration dont a été victime la recourante n'a pu générer en elle un stress si important que le lien de causalité naturelle entre cet événement et les troubles psychiques dont elle souffre puisse être admis. De plus, le certificat délivré par la recourante a été établi plus de 7 mois après l'événement dommageable, ce qui constitue un indice supplémentaire.

Mots-clés

social insuranceaccident insurancenatural causationpsychological injurykidnappingstressmedical certificate

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Questions juridiques clés extraites par Omnilex

Question juridique clé

Whether the kidnapping caused the claimed psychological disorders by natural causation under accident insurance law.

Solution extraite

The natural causal link was not established; the kidnapping could not have caused such intense stress as to justify the psychological disorders as accident consequences.

Motifs extraits

The court relied on the nature of the event and noted that the medical certificate was issued more than seven months after the harmful event, which weakened the causal link.

Natural causation denied for psychological disorders after kidnappingGénéré par IA