I worked at a software engineering job back in 2015 and developed psychosis and disabling schizophrenia after working there a couple of months.
I was paying into a long term disability insurance plan through the company. Eventually my mental health got so bad I wasn’t coming into work, and when I tried to use my PTO to take a vacation, I was fired.
It took me a while to get on social security disability, and then some years later, in the past year or so, I remembered I had the policy and figured I should be eligible because I was working and paying into it when I was diagnosed and when I became disabled.
I filed a claim, which included a form filled out by the doctor and one filled out by the employer, and on the doctor’s form he specifically states that the condition started, and I became disabled, during the job.
The company responded, saying that because they found I had become disabled on the day after I was fired from the job.
Now I have to appeal and it’s really time consuming getting all the documentation they suddenly require.
Is this kind of thing common? It’s bad enough getting schizophrenia on the job, but they’re saying they won’t pay out.