These Are Not Just Numbers on a Balance Sheet

⚠️ Trigger Warning: This post discusses workplace violence, PTSD, disability denial, and psychological harm. Please take care while reading.

My name is Dr. Sharisse Stephenson.

I developed PTSD after a near workplace-violence event. What followed was not care, compassion, or protection — it was obstruction, delay, and silence.

And I need the people making these decisions to understand something very clearly:

these are not abstract choices. They have real, human consequences.

Asking for Safety Should Not Trigger Retaliation

After the workplace-violence incident, I did exactly what employees are told to do.

I asked for accommodations.

I asked to work in a safe clinic environment.

I asked for protection so I could continue caring for patients.

Instead, Sun Life Insurance, acting on behalf of my employer, denied those accommodations and placed me on ADA-approved leave.

I assumed — reasonably — that if I was deemed unable to work safely, then my disability benefits would be approved so I could focus on treatment and recovery.

That did not happen.

From Injury to Obstruction

What followed was not support.

It was obstruction.

Delay.

Blocked portals.

Silence.

While I was trying to survive PTSD, I was also forced into another battle — fighting for benefits that were due to me.

My PTSD worsened.

Timely treatment was delayed.

Every unanswered message and every procedural hurdle compounded the injury.

Instead of focusing on healing, I was forced to fight — not just the trauma, but the system itself.

The Cost of Delay

I want Sun Life Insurance — and every executive who signs off on these decisions — to understand this:

These are not just numbers on a spreadsheet.

These are not risk calculations.

These are not line items.

These decisions affect real people.

They affect:

• Whether someone can access treatment

• Whether trauma escalates instead of heals

• Whether a person survives the aftermath of injury

I barely made it through this ordeal.

Some people don’t.

This Is What Moral Injury Looks Like

This is not about resilience or personal toughness.

This is about a system that:

• Denies accommodations after violence

• Approves leave but withholds support

• Forces injured people to fight while they’re at their most vulnerable

That is not neutral.

That is not benign.

That is not harmless.

That is moral injury, inflicted by institutions that claim to support health and recovery.

To the Executives Making These Decisions

When you delay benefits.

When you deny accommodations.

When you obstruct access to care.

You are not just managing risk.

You are shaping outcomes — including whether someone lives through the aftermath of trauma.

I want you to know that your decisions echo far beyond a balance sheet.

They echo in hospital rooms.

In sleepless nights.

In lives pushed to the brink.

Call to Action

If you are an insurer, employer, or executive:

understand the weight of the decisions you make.

If you are a worker struggling after trauma:

you are not weak — the system failed you.

If you are reading this and recognize yourself in it:

document everything, seek help, and know you are not alone.

👉 Share this story so these harms stay visible

👉 Demand accountability from insurers and employers

👉 Support advocacy that centers human impact — not corporate convenience

Because disability decisions are never just paperwork.

They are decisions about lives.