The bravery of lawyers going to trial is nothing compared to the bravery of our clients whose lives they ask us to share with the world. Chad, a veteran police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina, entrusted The Sumwalt Group to challenge a denial of his workers’ compensation claim for PTSD. The United States Department of Justice estimates that 15% of law enforcement officers across our country have symptoms of PTSD. Other authorities estimate this rate up to 37%. Given these risks, Chad’s development of PTSD was no surprise. Unlike the denial of his workers’ comp claim, given the increased risk of his developing PTSD just by the nature of his work. In the end, the right decisions were made for the right reasons. Chad now uses his experience with our workers’ comp system to help others, so that the same experience will not befall other officers facing PTSD. The Sumwalt Group Workers’ Compensation and Trial Lawyers is proud of Chad’s heart to help his fellow officers.
Many thanks to our friends Michelle Boudin at WCNC-Charlotte (@MichelleBoudin) for her usual excellent reporting and Speaker Pro Tem Tommy Pope of the South Carolina House of Representatives (@tommypopeSC) for sharing his passion to help our first responders and for his contributions to this story, which you can watch and read at https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/former-charlotte-police-officer-says-riots-gave-him-ptsd/275-cfdb9605-26b5-4b2f-b3d4-74813352814d.