Filtered workers' comp decisions

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of enhanced permanent partial disability benefits to Joseph Pentridge, finding that his primary work injury combined synergistically with preexisting conditions to result in greater disability than the sum of each condition alone. The decision was supported by the employee's expert testimony, significant income loss, and medical treatment records documenting the compounded effects of the injuries.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Robert Bell, a deputy sheriff who suffered a lumbar spine disc injury when he fell to avoid gunfire on March 6, 2010. The award includes $43,818.00 in total compensation for medical expenses, temporary disability, and 20% permanent partial disability to the low back.

The Missouri LIRC reversed the administrative law judge's decision denying permanent total disability benefits, finding that the work accident was the prevailing factor in causing the employee's medical condition and total disability. Martha Robertson, who had pre-existing low back conditions and surgeries, was found entitled to Second Injury Fund benefits based on the September 17, 2009 primary injury.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding maximum medical improvement in a workers' compensation case involving a July 22, 2010 work-related lumbar strain injury. The Commission determined that the work accident was the prevailing factor in causing the lumbar strain and resulting permanent total disability, with the case involving Second Injury Fund liability.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of temporary compensation to employee Danny Sanders for a back injury sustained during a mandatory physical evaluation program required by his employer as a condition of returning to work. The Commission held that the injury arose out of and in the course of employment under the statutory test, rejecting the employer's argument that the employee was not "on the clock" at the time of injury.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding a low back strain injury sustained by Robert G. Wright, Jr. on July 6, 2010, while employed by TG Missouri Corporation. The Commission reversed several determinations regarding medical causation, past medical expenses, future medical care, temporary total disability, and the nature and extent of permanent disability.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of permanent total disability benefits, finding that the employee failed to establish medical causation between the work-related injury and his preexisting back and neck condition. The court rejected the employee's allegations of error, noting that his arguments were incomprehensible and based on factual misrepresentations about the medical testimony presented.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Gregory Miller's injury sustained on October 31, 2002, when a chain released while loading cargo vans, causing him to fall on his right shoulder and back. The claimant was awarded permanent disability compensation of 25% for the right shoulder and 19.5% for the low back, with ongoing benefits paid by the Second Injury Fund.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits for Scott Noblin's claimed work injury from lifting shingles on July 17, 2009. The Commission found the employee's medical expert failed to adequately distinguish between preexisting severe low back pain and injuries allegedly caused by the work accident, and failed to rule out an intervening injurious event in October 2009.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award, finding that the work accident on June 21, 2011 was the prevailing factor in causing the employee's low back strain/sprain injury and related medical condition. The employee is entitled to compensation for past and future medical aid, temporary total disability benefits, and permanent partial disability benefits, with the Commission rejecting the employer's expert opinion that no permanent disability resulted.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to James DeWald for injuries sustained on August 24, 2012, when he jumped into a rolling tele loader to stop it. The claimant was awarded $21,679.00 in permanent partial disability compensation for permanent injuries to his neck (5% BAW) and low back (7.5% BAW).

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's decision denying all workers' compensation benefits for Patricia Hulsey's alleged low back injury from assembly line work at Chrysler. The Commission found that the injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment under Missouri workers' compensation law.

The Commission reversed the administrative law judge's decision and awarded workers' compensation benefits to Donald Elliott for a low back injury that occurred on July 13, 2005, while working as a stonemason. The employee had a prior low back injury from 1996 with a herniated L5-S1 disc, but the Commission found his subsequent injury arose out of and in the course of his employment.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Keith Jackson for a low back injury sustained while moving a steel channel beam on November 21, 2012. The award includes 30 weeks of permanent partial disability compensation from the employer and permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund.

The Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Kent Buerk for neck and back injuries sustained on February 13, 2009, while carrying a 65-pound windshield across a muddy surface at work. The employee was awarded permanent total disability compensation along with unpaid medical expenses and temporary total disability benefits.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits for William Scott Johnston, who sustained a compensable back injury while pulling carpet on December 20, 2007. The Commission found the award supported by competent and substantial evidence and in accordance with Missouri Workers' Compensation Law, awarding permanent total disability benefits of $742.72 per week beginning October 31, 2012.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award in a workers' compensation case involving a February 2, 2010 work injury. The case addressed medical causation, permanent disability, medical benefits liability, and Second Injury Fund involvement for employee Enisa Comic.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Jane Cook Noyes for a back injury sustained on April 3, 2001, while bending down to remove items from a drawer at a Wal-Mart store in Macon, Missouri. The claimant was awarded permanent total disability benefits of $202.89 per week for life, with a total value of $65,678.39, supported by competent and substantial evidence and in accordance with Missouri Workers' Compensation Law.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for an employee who injured his back when his chair collapsed during a lunch break on employer premises. The Commission found that the employee's injury arose out of and in the course of employment because he was exposed to the risk of the employer's specific chair collapsing, a hazard not equally present in normal nonemployment life.

The Commission reversed the ALJ's decision and found the Second Injury Fund liable for permanent total disability benefits in a workers' compensation case involving a sheet metal worker with multiple preexisting back injuries who sustained a primary low back injury on January 16, 2009. The employee had previously settled three separate back injury claims (1988, 1992, 2001) before the current injury, establishing a significant preexisting disability that triggered Second Injury Fund coverage.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award denying workers' compensation to Mark Barrientos, finding he failed to prove he sustained a compensable accident as defined by Missouri law. The Commission clarified that while repetitive lifting during a single work shift could constitute an accident, the employee did not meet the burden of proof in this case.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for an employee who sustained a work-related injury on May 17, 2007, finding that the accident was the prevailing factor causing a herniated disc at L5-S1 and resulting permanent disability. The Commission found persuasive expert medical testimony establishing that the workplace accident caused the herniated disc and associated substantial permanent disability, meeting the employee's burden of proof under Missouri workers' compensation law.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent partial disability benefits for Timothy Pannell's November 24, 2009 work injury, finding that the employee failed to prove the left knee injury was caused by the accident and did not meet the burden for permanent total disability. The Commission also approved payment of attorney's fees under a joint motion between the employee's former and current legal representatives.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, affirming permanent total disability benefits for Richard L. Hertzing from a work-related back and right leg injury but adjusting the commencement date to align with maximum medical improvement rather than the date of job separation. The Commission adopted the findings regarding medical causation and causation, finding the employee's injuries to be work-related and resulting in permanent total disability.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Daniel Mroz for a lower back injury sustained on October 7, 2009, while helping lift a 100-pound drain snake onto a roof. The employee was awarded permanent partial disability benefits of 15% and permanent total disability benefits payable for his lifetime.