Filtered Decisions

The LIRC affirmed the ALJ's award of permanent partial disability (39.92 weeks) to the Second Injury Fund, rejecting the employee's claim for permanent total disability. The Commission found that while the employee was credible and deemed unemployable by experts, substantial disabling conditions existed that were unrelated to the primary 2005 injury and therefore did not meet the statutory requirement for PTD benefits.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for employee Martha Satterfield's work-related injuries to her abdomen and right foot. One commissioner dissented, disagreeing with the interpretation that the employee failed to establish liability against the Second Injury Fund for permanent total disability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission reversed the administrative law judge's denial of benefits and awarded permanent total disability compensation against the Second Injury Fund for an employee injured in a ladder fall on October 30, 2015. The employee's claim was based on the combination of injuries from the primary accident (left wrist, ribs, kidneys, low back) combined with preexisting disabilities.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of permanent total disability benefits for Roy Schenewerk's May 29, 2008 work injury, finding that his inability to work resulted primarily from subsequent worsening of preexisting conditions rather than the compensable injury combined with those conditions. The Commission determined the employee failed to provide sufficient medical evidence evaluating his disability status as of his maximum medical improvement date of September 2, 2009.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation for multiple injuries sustained by the employee in an accident, finding that the accident was the prevailing factor causing permanent partial disability to the cervical spine, lumbar spine, right shoulder, and right hip. The Commission rejected the insurer's expert opinion denying medical causation and upheld the employee's entitlement to compensation based on competent and substantial evidence.

The Missouri Court of Appeals reversed the Commission's initial denial of compensation, finding the denial unsupported by competent and substantial evidence. Upon remand, the Commission issued a final award allowing compensation for the employee's work-related injuries, accounting for preexisting conditions including shoulder surgery, leg fractures from a fall, and hearing loss.

The Commission awarded permanent total disability benefits to Larry Abt from the Second Injury Fund, along with permanent partial disability benefits from his employer for injuries to his left lower extremity, ribs, and lumbar spine sustained in 2001. The award was issued in compliance with a Missouri Court of Appeals mandate requiring calculation of liability between the employer and Second Injury Fund, and included reimbursement for past medical expenses.

The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed and remanded the Commission's award, directing recalculation of Second Injury Fund benefits to exclude preexisting thumb disability and scarring. The Commission recalculated benefits and awarded the Second Injury Fund liability of $10,333.41 in permanent partial disability benefits based on 297.75 weeks of combined preexisting and primary injury disabilities.

The Missouri Court of Appeals reversed in part and remanded the Commission's March 2012 decision; the Commission on remand issued a Final Award allowing compensation for Larry Abt's January 15, 2001, work-related injury sustained when a locomotive he was operating collided with a truck. The employee sustained a degloving injury to his left calf, lower back injuries, and fractured ribs, with subsequent injuries to his left ankle and wrist, and was found employable at heavy workload demand level despite preexisting conditions.

The Commission reversed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to an employee who slipped and fell on stairs in a shared office building stairwell, finding that the employee failed to prove her injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment. The reversal was based on the determination that the employer did not own or control the common area where the fall occurred.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award to grant permanent total disability (PTD) benefits from the Second Injury Fund, finding that the employee's work-related injuries to his knee, back, and neck in combination with preexisting disabilities rendered him unable to engage in substantial gainful activity. The decision upheld medical expert testimony that the employee was permanently and totally disabled as a direct result of the December 2008 work injury combined with all preexisting medical conditions.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award finding the Second Injury Fund liable for permanent total disability benefits for William Reed. The employee suffered multiple permanent partial disabilities from a November 2003 primary injury combined with preexisting disabling conditions of the bilateral wrists and low back.

The Missouri LIRC affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Eric R. Buhlinger's multiple injuries sustained in a primary work incident, including cervical spine injuries (27.5%), concussion (5%), right elbow injury (5%), and consideration of pre-existing left ankle disability (17.5%). The Commission rejected the Second Injury Fund's argument that disabilities failing to individually meet statutory thresholds should be excluded from Second Injury Fund liability calculations, holding that all disabilities must be considered once Second Injury Fund involvement is established.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of temporary total disability benefits for employee Dawn Woods following a compensable workplace injury on July 1, 2010. The award provides $19,626.82 in temporary disability compensation from August 20, 2010 through July 7, 2011, with ongoing benefits subject to modification pending a final award.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Troy L. Hudson for two work-related injuries: a May 21, 2004 fall from a trailer causing head, neck, spine, and shoulder injuries (30% permanent partial disability), and a December 29, 2004 low back injury from bending rebar (40% permanent partial disability). The decision awards temporary disability compensation, medical expenses, and permanent partial disability benefits for both injuries.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation for Glenn Fernau's March 22, 2003 workplace injury, but modified the disability rating for low back and hip injuries from 15% to 5% of the body as a whole based on evidence of walking and sleeping difficulties. The employee was awarded 392 weeks of permanent partial disability with benefits including compensation for shoulder, back, hip, psychiatric, and facial injuries.