By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A PSYCHIATRIST testified yesterday that work stress could have contributed to the miscarriage Alana Major experienced in 2019.
The former senior executive of Family Guardian is suing her former employer, claiming that when the company failed to approve her request to work remotely, she suffered a painful miscarriage. Her doctor had recommended she work from home because of her high-risk pregnancy.
She miscarried her son, Che Karson Major, on July 31, 2019.
Dr Saphire Longmore said Mrs Major experienced stress in various ways while employed at Family Guardian.
She noted the plaintiff’s employer and insurance provider were the same entity, a fact that could have caused Mrs Major to experience distress if she felt the company did not take her doctor’s recommendation seriously.
Dr Longmore said Mrs Major did not get the kind of care she gave to clients, creating conflict in her psyche.
The doctor said psychosocial stress can adversely affect pregnancies and potentially cause stillbirth.
Dr Longmore said she believes the outcome of Mrs Major’s pregnancy would have differed if Family Guardian had agreed to her remote work request.
She said she interviewed Mrs Major and her husband after the miscarriage. She said both showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
She said Mrs Major also exhibited symptoms of persistent complex bereavement disorder and a phobia of the work environment. She said acute stress disorder is a precursor to PTSD, and it is highly likely Mrs Major’s stress was diagnosable leading up to the miscarriage.
Dr Longmore disagreed with the suggestion of Robert Adams –– Family Guardian’s lawyer –– that the academic research she referred to in court did not support her opinion that the plaintiff’s work stress resulted in her miscarriage.
When Mrs Major’s lawyer, Sharon Wilson, KC, asked her to estimate how much stress caused the plaintiff’s miscarriage, Dr Longmore said it had a 99.9 per cent chance of contributing.
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