Filtered workers' comp decisions

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits for Steven Crossley's right knee injury sustained in a slip and fall accident on July 9, 2010. The claimant was awarded compensation for unpaid medical expenses, temporary total disability, and permanent partial disability of 35% of the right knee.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Mary Riegel for a right knee injury sustained on May 5, 2010, arising out of her employment. The claimant was awarded 15% permanent partial disability compensation for the right knee in the amount of $8,343.60, with the Second Injury Fund liable for a portion of the award.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Richard L. Meyer, a carpenter who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament to his right knee while lifting plywood. The claimant was awarded 37.5% permanent partial disability benefits, with the Second Injury Fund providing permanent total disability benefits.

The Missouri Court of Appeals reversed the LIRC's initial award allowing compensation, and the LIRC issued a final award denying the employee's claim for workers' compensation benefits. The employee failed to provide timely written notice of her January 29, 2010 work-related right knee injury within the statutory 30-day requirement and could not prove the employer was not prejudiced by the delay.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for an employee who sustained a right knee injury while performing duties as a correctional officer at a jail facility. The Commission found that the employee met her burden of proof on medical causation, rejecting the Second Injury Fund's argument that the condition resulted from preexisting degenerative disease rather than the traumatic twisting injury that occurred on September 5, 2009.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Kenneth Siculan for a right knee injury sustained on July 21, 2009, when his foot slipped off a curb while performing work duties. Medical evidence established that the workplace accident was the prevailing factor causing internal derangement of the right knee including a torn medial meniscus with 25% permanent partial disability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Annette Smith for an alleged right knee injury sustained while climbing a ladder at work on March 16, 2007. The Commission found that the injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment, making it non-compensable under Missouri workers' compensation law.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Linda K. Lane for a left knee injury sustained on August 4, 2008, when she fell while assisting a client on a ramp. The claimant was awarded permanent total disability benefits, with the Second Injury Fund designated as an additional party to the case.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Jeanne Wilson's left knee injury sustained in a slip and fall on September 30, 2008 at Park Terrace. The employee was awarded 56 weeks of permanent partial disability (35% left knee) and permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund at $205.50 per week.

The LIRC affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing permanent and total disability compensation for George Sutton's right knee injury, finding that Dr. Margolis's opinion that preexisting conditions (polio and degenerative disc disease) combine synergistically with the primary injury was persuasive. The Commission affirmed the decision while noting that Sutton failed to prove the Second Injury Fund's liability because the January 2001 subsequent injury was voluntarily dismissed as part of the settlement.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Jerry Taylor's right knee injury sustained while loading a milk truck on March 19, 2009. Benefits include 60 weeks of permanent partial disability (25% PPD) and permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund, with the claim being fully compensable under Missouri workers' compensation law.

The Missouri LIRC affirmed an administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for an employee's right knee injury sustained in a fall, with the Second Injury Fund liable for permanent partial disability benefits. The employee's claim was based on the theory that his knee injury combined synergistically with preexisting permanent partial disabilities of his thoracic and cervical spine.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Karen Jones for a left knee injury sustained on July 26, 2005, when she slipped and twisted her knee while stepping onto a cashier podium during her employment as a gas station cashier. The award includes permanent and total disability compensation of $271.79 weekly for life beginning September 6, 2006, plus future medical care for the left knee.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing compensation for Milton Young's left knee sprain injury sustained on January 4, 2008, when he stepped on a frozen dirt clod at work. The employee was awarded 15% permanent partial disability benefits totaling $9,336.96, with the employer liable and the Second Injury Fund having no liability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award for an employee who suffered a right knee injury when slipping on gravel while stepping into a truck in the employer's parking lot on January 9, 2011. The injury was found to be compensable under Missouri workers' compensation law, with temporary disability benefits and future medical care awarded pending a final determination.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Thomas Cummiskey for a right knee injury sustained on June 4, 2010, while employed as a bricklayer and tuck-pointer. The injury, caused by leg-intensive repetitive duties including kneeling, squatting, and climbing, resulted in 25% permanent partial disability with the Second Injury Fund liable for $4,282.57 in compensation.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award, revising the permanent partial disability assessment for a left knee injury sustained on November 19, 2010, when the employee subdued an unruly inmate while working as a lieutenant in the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department. The case addresses whether the employee's 22.5% permanent partial disability award and entitlement to future medical care are supported by competent and substantial evidence.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing compensation for an acute synovitis injury to the left knee sustained on July 15, 2008, when the employee struck his knee at work. The Commission found that while the injury caused acute inflammation and swelling, the medical evidence did not support a finding of permanent partial disability, as the preexisting condition was determined to be the prevailing factor rather than the work injury.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for John King's left knee injury sustained on November 10, 2004 in the course of his employment. The Commission awarded 28.46 weeks of permanent partial disability compensation totaling $8,488.76 from the Second Injury Fund, in addition to the 24 weeks of permanent partial disability previously paid by the employer.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding that the employee's 2008 fall resulting in left knee and left elbow injuries was a natural consequence of her original 2007 right knee work injury, making the employer liable for both incidents despite separate compensation claims being filed. The employer's argument that filing separate claims precluded proving causal connection was rejected based on Missouri case law establishing that all natural consequences flowing from a compensable work injury are compensable.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding that the Second Injury Fund's liability should be increased by including employee's preexisting conditions (hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, hernia, low back, and left shoulder) as hindrances to employment. The Commission determined specific permanent partial disability percentages for each preexisting condition and rejected the administrative law judge's unexplained conclusion that these conditions did not constitute obstacles to reemployment.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of 50% permanent partial disability for a right knee injury from a slip and fall accident in August 2001, but denied compensation for claimed psychiatric injuries of depression and anxiety. The Commission found that employee failed to meet his burden of proof on medical causation for the psychiatric claims due to the absence of medical expert testimony and evidence of pre-existing psychiatric history unrelated to the workplace accident.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding Second Injury Fund liability for an employee's compensable right knee injury sustained on September 16, 2008. The Commission disagreed with the ALJ's analysis of whether the employee's preexisting diabetes constituted a hindrance or obstacle to employment, clarifying that the relevant inquiry focuses on the potential for a condition to combine with a work-related injury to cause greater disability, not on past manifestations of difficulty.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for a left knee injury sustained in a January 10, 2008 workplace accident at Modine Manufacturing. The employee, Robert Gregory, tripped on weld wire while checking inventory and twisted his left knee, which aggravated a previous 2007 knee injury that had been surgically repaired.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Betty L. Craig for a knee injury sustained in a fall from a ladder on October 28, 2009. The award includes unpaid medical expenses of $57,386.24, permanent partial disability compensation of $10,151.28, and temporary disability payments totaling $11,123.82, with 15% permanent disability of the left knee at the 160-week level.