Filtered workers' comp decisions

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to custodian Wendy L. Fry for a low back injury sustained on October 2, 2006, while emptying a trash barrel. The claimant was awarded 25% permanent partial disability benefits totaling $52,504.36, including unpaid medical expenses, temporary disability compensation, and permanent partial disability payments.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Woodrow Ward, who suffered a thoracic back, right wrist, and right shoulder injury after falling 15 feet from a rooftop on June 16, 2003. The claimant was awarded permanent partial disability compensation totaling $59,837.31 for injuries rated at 25% PPD of the thoracic spine, 22.5% PPD of the right shoulder, and 17.5% PPD of the right wrist.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Douglas E. Murray for a back injury sustained on February 4, 1998, while pulling on a stuck spade. The Commission approved permanent partial disability compensation of 17.5% of the body as a whole, along with underpaid temporary total disability benefits and medical expenses totaling $24,691.18.

The Commission reversed the Administrative Law Judge's decision that classified the employee as a domestic servant exempt from workers' compensation coverage. The employee, a Certified Nurse Aide providing medical care to a homebound patient with Parkinson's Disease, sustained a compensable back injury to the lumbar spine (6% permanent partial disability) when the patient's knees buckled while being transferred to a reclining chair.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award to include permanent partial psychiatric disability benefits of 5% of the body as a whole, finding that the employee sustained a compensable mental injury causally related to her work-related back injury. The employee was awarded an additional $4,295.00 in psychiatric disability compensation based on credible medical evidence establishing the connection between her back pain and adjustment disorder.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits for Oscar Scott, who sustained a low back injury while operating a forklift on an uneven surface on May 6, 2005. Scott is entitled to permanent total disability benefits of $453.51 per week for his lifetime beginning October 13, 2006, along with necessary medical treatment.

The LIRC affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award finding that employee Mickey Snider suffered a work-related back injury in March 1999 resulting in permanent total disability, with employer liable for benefits and future medical treatment. The Commission corrected the ALJ's analysis regarding Second Injury Fund liability, finding no such liability exists because the employee's permanent total disability resulted solely from the work-related injury.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Juanita Massey for injuries sustained when she slipped and fell on a wet floor on May 21, 2003. Despite finding that an accident occurred during employment, the judge determined the injury was not compensable under Missouri workers' compensation law.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Dennis Payne for a disc herniation claimed to have resulted from a shoveling injury on November 17, 2006. The Commission found that while an injury occurred, the employee failed to establish that the work incident was the cause of the subsequently identified ruptured disc requiring surgery in January 2007.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Scott L. Eiken's back injury sustained on April 27, 2004, while lifting a wheel assembly at the Harley Davidson Motor Co. facility in Kansas City, Missouri. The employee was awarded 3% permanent partial disability compensation along with temporary disability benefits already paid, with medical expenses fully covered by the insurer.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits for David Heston, who suffered a compensable back injury on August 15, 2002, when pinned between a truck and dolly while employed by Rock Hill Mechanical Corporation. The employee is entitled to lifetime permanent total disability benefits of $649.32 weekly beginning March 1, 2008, with credit for overpaid temporary disability compensation.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits for Billy Joe McMunn, who injured his low back while moving a ladder on April 11, 2003. The case involved a settled claim with Missouri Employer's Mutual and the Second Injury Fund bearing liability for permanent total disability compensation.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for David Frost's low back injury sustained on February 4, 2006, when his vehicle was struck while test driving in the course of employment. The primary injury was settled for 12.5% body as a whole for low back and 2.5% for psychiatric injury, with the Second Injury Fund liable for 61.34 weeks of permanent partial disability totaling $22,394.00.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Danny Coleman's work-related injury to his cervical and lumbar spine sustained on June 6, 2003, when he slipped while carrying a heavy saw blade at Drake Corporation. The Commission found the injury compensable under Missouri Workers' Compensation Act with temporary total disability payments and necessary medical aid provided by the insurer.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to James Andrews for a work-related injury sustained on March 11, 2004, when he fell into a fish pond while fighting a fire. The employee was awarded 12-1/2% permanent partial disability compensation totaling $29,221.61, with the employer and Second Injury Fund sharing liability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission reversed the Administrative Law Judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits, finding that the employee credibly proved she sustained a compensable low back injury on May 28, 2004, while moving boxes at her workstation. The Commission concluded the employee is entitled to compensation for the accident-related injury arising out of and in the course of her employment.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's temporary partial award finding the employee's low back injury compensable under Missouri workers' compensation law. The injury occurred on August 6, 2007 when the claimant was moving a heavy steel trash container, and the Commission awarded unpaid medical expenses and past temporary total disability benefits totaling $51,674.21 with future benefits to be determined.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Stephen Petelik for injuries sustained on August 19, 2003, when he fell while lifting a control panel that landed on his left arm and back. The employee was awarded permanent total disability benefits, unpaid medical expenses of $272,341.64, and temporary disability compensation totaling $185,503.60.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits in this case, despite finding the injury to the lumbar spine compensable under Chapter 287. The employer and insurer had previously settled their liability, resulting in no compensation being awarded to the claimant.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award denying compensation benefits in this workers' compensation case, despite finding the injury to the cervical and lumbar spine compensable and arising out of employment. The employer and insurer had previously settled their liability in the case, resulting in no additional compensation being awarded.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing compensation for Amanda Brooke's occupational disease caused by repetitive lifting as a meat assistant. The claimant was awarded 35% permanent partial disability to the body as a whole for neck/back injury totaling $26,210.80 in compensation.

The Missouri LIRC affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Suzanne M. Miller for a lower back injury sustained on April 1, 2002, when she slipped on water and fell at a Taco Bell facility in Warrenton, Missouri. The employee was awarded $8,107.32 in total compensation consisting of temporary total disability and permanent partial disability benefits at 12.5% of the body as a whole.

The Commission reversed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation to Christina Alcorn, a paraprofessional educator who claimed a back injury sustained while lifting a seizing student from bleachers on November 11, 2003. The reversal was based on the employee's failure to provide written notice of the injury within thirty days as required by Missouri statute, with the Commission finding insufficient evidence that the employer was not prejudiced by the delayed notice.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award denying all workers' compensation benefits in this case. Although the injury occurring on December 28, 2000, when the claimant caught his foot on a skid and rolled, was deemed compensable under Missouri law, no permanent disability was found and no compensation was awarded.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for a back injury sustained on February 2, 2004. One member dissented, arguing the employee should have been awarded permanent total disability benefits based on medical causation of subsequent surgeries and stenosis diagnosed in 2005.