Filtered workers' comp decisions

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award denying the employee's claim for total knee replacement expenses, finding that the work injury did not reasonably require the replacement as the need flowed from pre-existing arthritic changes rather than the workplace injury. While correcting the administrative law judge's misapplication of legal standards, the Commission reached the same conclusion that the total knee replacement was not reasonably required to cure and relieve from the effects of the work injury.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Judy Drago for injuries to her right and left knees sustained in a motor vehicle accident while leaving work on January 18, 2007. The award includes unpaid medical expenses, temporary total disability benefits, permanent partial disability compensation, and Second Injury Fund liability totaling $156,194.82.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Mark Winningham for a right knee injury sustained on August 18, 2005, while installing drainpipe at the Missouri Department of Transportation. The employee was awarded 32 weeks of permanent partial disability compensation at 20 percent along with future medical benefits.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission reversed the administrative law judge's award that found the employee sustained a work-related accident on January 14, 2002, causing a left knee injury and subsequent death. The Commission determined that the evidence did not support a compensable work-related accident, denying all compensation benefits to the employee's widow.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for Jacob Hahne's left knee injury sustained on February 13, 2004, while working for the employer. The Commission substituted its own analysis on the issue of medical causation while affirming the overall award, rejecting the employee's arguments that the administrative law judge's medical causation findings were in error.

The Commission reversed the administrative law judge's denial of Second Injury Fund liability, finding that the employee sustained a 20% permanent partial disability of the left knee from a November 2008 work-related fall that caused a torn medial meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament injury. The employee was entitled to Second Injury Fund benefits based on his multiple preexisting conditions including a prior finger injury, hernias, and diabetes that complicated his recovery from the primary knee injury.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Paul Harvey's left knee injury sustained on January 24, 2002, while setting up fixtures at work. The award includes permanent partial disability benefits from the employer and permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding Debra Arnold's workers' compensation case, primarily correcting the future medical care provision to remove the requirement that treatment be recommended by Dr. Volarich, an independent medical evaluator rather than a treating physician. The Commission affirmed the finding that Arnold is permanently and totally disabled as a result of her work-related injury and made clarifying technical modifications to the award.

The Commission affirmed the ALJ's decision denying workers' compensation benefits for the employee's 2007 right knee and left hip injuries, finding she was not an employee of Harrah's Casino at the time of the alleged injury and was not in the course and scope of employment. The 2002 left knee injury had been previously settled in October 2008, and the Division no longer had jurisdiction over that claim.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to employee Travis L. Lynn for a knee injury sustained while servicing underground transformers for Boone Electric Cooperative. The Commission found that the injury arose out of and in the course of employment because kneeling in a squatted position and reaching behind oneself were integral duties of the employee's job, establishing a clear nexus between the work activity and the injury.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Gary R. Pace for a right knee injury sustained on December 9, 2002, when his foot lodged in a hole and he twisted and fell while working. The claimant was found to have permanent total disability resulting from the accident and occupational disease including complex regional pain syndrome and depression.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to William D. Dobbs for a right knee injury sustained on October 30, 2002, when a concrete slab fell and struck his knee while he was moving it at work. The Commission found the injury compensable under Missouri law and approved the administrative law judge's award along with the attorney's fee as fair and reasonable.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding Michael Webb's right knee arthritis claim from a work injury on December 1, 2005. The Commission disagreed with the ALJ's finding of medical causation between the work injury and arthritis, finding the evidence supported that the arthritis resulted from chronic degenerative processes rather than the acute work-related injury.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying Anthony Ladd's claim for enhanced permanent partial disability benefits against the Second Injury Fund for a 2006 left knee injury. The employee failed to prove that his preexisting disabilities combined with the 2006 injury to result in enhanced permanent partial disability meeting the statutory thresholds required for Second Injury Fund liability.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, affirming 35% permanent partial disability of the right knee but reversing the requirement for employer to provide total knee replacement surgery. The Commission found that while the work injury accelerated pain and degradation, the need for knee replacement stemmed from pre-existing degenerative arthritis rather than the work accident, though employer remains responsible for necessary pain management.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, reducing the employee's permanent partial disability rating for a left knee injury from 30% to 20% at the 160-week level. The Commission found the higher rating excessive and unsupported by the medical evidence, particularly the extensive examination conducted by the employee's independent medical evaluator.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Rick Powell for a left knee injury sustained on April 21, 2003, when he slipped on a screed machine at work. The award includes permanent partial disability compensation, permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund, and future medical treatment for the total knee replacement.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award regarding future medical care for employee Melvin Boyers, who suffered a left knee injury on August 26, 2005 when he slipped and fell while dragging a pole after a storm. The Commission affirmed the underlying compensability finding and adopted most of the ALJ's decision, while modifying the future medical care provision to ensure the employer/insurer provides all reasonably necessary future medical treatment.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award regarding causation of an ACL tear sustained on September 21, 2005, determining liability for medical treatment and temporary total disability benefits. The case addresses whether a subsequent January 2007 ice fall constituted an intervening event breaking the chain of causation or was a natural result of the original workplace injury.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for an employee who suffered a left knee injury when an earthen bank collapsed at work on November 8, 2005. The award includes compensation for unpaid medical expenses, temporary disability, and 64 weeks of permanent partial disability at 40% of the left knee.

The LIRC affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Barton White for a left knee injury sustained on September 15, 2006. The Second Injury Fund was held liable for 14.4 weeks of compensation totaling $2,783.95.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Tamara Hill for a left knee injury sustained on February 7, 2005, when she tripped and jerked her knee as an elevator malfunctioned at her workplace. The claimant was awarded 16 weeks of permanent partial disability compensation totaling $5,664.80 for 10% permanent disability of the left knee.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to an employee who sustained a lateral meniscus tear to her knee when a patient bed rolled unexpectedly during repositioning. The Commission found the employee failed to prove that the accident, rather than preexisting arthritis, was the prevailing factor in causing the need for knee replacement surgery.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Maria Peck-Miller for a knee injury sustained on January 26, 2004, when she slipped on ice while walking to her car at the end of her work shift. The Commission approved permanent partial disability compensation of 40% for the right knee and 15% for the left knee, with the Second Injury Fund liable for 19.2 weeks of benefits totaling $6,663.36.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits for Lisa Higgenbotham's left knee injury sustained on June 5, 2006, while employed at a McDonald's restaurant. The claimant was awarded compensation for 30% permanent disability to the left knee, with the Second Injury Fund covering 20% of the body rating liability.