Filtered workers' comp decisions

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for Kenneth Jones's low back injury that occurred in the course of his employment with Harley Davidson Motor Company. The employee was found to be permanently and totally disabled as a result of the accident, with liability established for past medical expenses and future medical care.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying all workers' compensation benefits to employee Henry L. Chester for an alleged back injury claimed to have occurred on June 5, 2012, while lifting bags. The employee failed to prove that he sustained an accident or occupational disease arising out of and in the course of his employment with Sonoco Products Company.

The Missouri LIRC modified the ALJ's award, finding that a work accident on October 26, 2008, was the prevailing factor causing injury to the employee's lumbar spine and that subsequent surgeries (lumbar discectomy/fusion and cervical discectomy/fusion) were reasonably required. The employee was awarded permanent partial disability benefits totaling 120 weeks for the combined lumbar and cervical spine injuries, with the Second Injury Fund held liable for preexisting conditions.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits to employee Marc Earnest, finding his testimony credible and the disability determination supported by competent and substantial evidence. The decision upheld that Earnest sustained a work-related spinal injury resulting in permanent and total disability.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award finding the employee permanently and totally disabled as a result of an April 2011 slip and fall injury at the employer's cafeteria. The Commission clarified that while some disability components relate to preexisting conditions, the April 2011 injury alone is sufficient to render the employee permanently and totally disabled.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to employee Lisa Deardorff for a low back injury sustained on November 27, 2011, when she was slammed into a wall by a mental patient at Fulton State Hospital. The employee was awarded 30 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits totaling $11,373.90 for 7.5% permanent partial disability of the body as a whole.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying all workers' compensation benefits to Mohammad Parviz for an alleged low back and left leg injury from pushing and pulling heavy machines and moving patients on March 30, 2011. The claim was denied because the employee failed to file the claim within the time required by law.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding the reported workplace accident of February 8, 2011 was the prevailing factor in causing the employee's lumbar spine and psychiatric injuries. The employee was awarded 15% permanent partial disability for lumbar spine injury and 5% for psychiatric disability, with the Second Injury Fund liable for 79.1 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Gregory Pulliam, who sustained a herniated disc of the thoracic spine with myelopathy requiring surgical fusion while lifting a 70-pound box at work on July 4, 2011. The employee was determined to have permanent total disability and the award included approval of reasonable attorney's fees.

The LIRC affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Donald Davis's low back injury sustained on June 6, 2007, while removing a 600-pound vending machine at a motel complex. The injury was found to be compensable under Missouri law, with 20% permanent partial disability awarded to the low back.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's decision regarding the nature and extent of disability, finding the employee credible and her complaints substantially corroborated by medical records. The employee sustained work-related injuries to her lumbar spine, left hip, and left lower extremity from a February 17, 2010 accident, with the Commission reconsidering the determination of permanent total disability based on the employee's documented daily pain and functional limitations.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award regarding the nature and extent of employer's liability for permanent disability resulting from a November 11, 2009 work injury causing herniated discs at L4-5 and L5-S1. The Commission affirmed causality findings and medical expense liability but modified the disability compensation determinations and Second Injury Fund liability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of permanent total disability compensation to employee Donald Clift for a back injury sustained on May 8, 2013, while performing repetitive heavy lifting. The claimant's injury was found to be compensable under Missouri workers' compensation law, with a weekly compensation rate of $384.62 established by agreement.

The Commission reversed the administrative law judge's decision that denied workers' compensation benefits, finding that the employee's fall arose out of and in the course of her employment. The case involved a 68-year-old nurse with preexisting back conditions from a 1983 herniated disc injury and 1993 motor vehicle accident, with the Second Injury Fund's liability remaining at issue.

The Commission reversed the administrative law judge's decision that denied workers' compensation benefits based on alleged refusal to submit to drug testing. The employee actually did submit to the drug test after initial hesitation due to concerns about marijuana exposure at a social event, and there was no evidence the injury was related to substance use.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Shirley Tyler for a low back injury sustained on August 26, 2014 while lifting trash at her workplace. The claimant was awarded 40 weeks of permanent partial disability compensation totaling $16,419.60 for a 10% permanent partial disability rating of the low back.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award in this workers' compensation case involving a lumbar spine injury sustained by an employee of Mexico School District on August 29, 2006. The decision addresses the employee's entitlement to permanent partial disability benefits and the liability of the Second Injury Fund, while affirming that the work accident was the prevailing factor in causing the lumbar spine injury.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Doris Hazelrigg for injuries sustained when she fell from a ladder while retrieving shoes at her workplace on March 2, 2013. The Second Injury Fund was liable for 9.8 weeks of permanent partial disability compensation at $360.00 per week, totaling $3,528.00, for thoracic and lumbar spine and rib fractures representing 16.5% permanent disability.

The Missouri LIRC affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing compensation and future medical treatment for Billy Davis's work injury from November 26, 2011. The Commission found that future medical care is appropriate because the claimant need only prove that treatment flows from the work injury, and there is a reasonable probability of future medical needs based on the employee's increased medication use and medical expert recommendations for additional procedures.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding the nature and extent of disability in a lumbar spine injury case. The employee sustained a work-related acute disk herniation at L5-S1 on August 28, 2006, with the Commission finding 50% permanent partial disability and addressing disputed issues of permanent total disability and Second Injury Fund liability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding that the employee sustained a compensable back injury on September 1, 2011, and is entitled to temporary total disability benefits and future medical care, but is not permanently and totally disabled from that injury alone. The Commission determined that any permanent total disability results from a combination of the September 2011 injury with preexisting conditions, affecting Second Injury Fund liability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of permanent and total disability benefits to employee Adam Brumble for a compensable low back injury sustained on December 6, 2012, while employed by the Missouri Department of Corrections. The award includes past temporary disability compensation, medical treatment costs, and future medical care with benefits beginning November 12, 2013.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award in this workers' compensation case involving Maria Maddaloni-Boughton's work-related spine injury from November 2, 2013. The Commission addressed issues regarding future medical care, permanent partial disability assessment, and Second Injury Fund liability for enhanced benefits.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Tina M. Worley for a low back injury sustained on July 5, 2006, while lifting and turning a paraplegic patient. The employee was found to have permanent total disability resulting from the compensable work injury.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of the employee's claim for enhanced permanent partial disability benefits against the Second Injury Fund. The employee failed to demonstrate that her preexisting low back injury combined synergistically with a 2010 left shoulder injury to create greater disability, and credibility issues undermined the expert opinion regarding the extent of preexisting low back disability.