Filtered workers' comp decisions

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits for an employee's claimed low back occupational disease allegedly caused by prolonged sitting requirements. The Commission found the employee's testimony lacked credibility regarding work conditions and that his medical experts' opinions were unpersuasive due to reliance on incorrect work history information and omitted medical records.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing permanent total disability compensation to employee Richard Gattenby, finding the Second Injury Fund liable for benefits. The decision addressed whether Gattenby's preexisting disability from a 1977 work-related motorcycle accident constituted a hindrance and obstacle to his employment in the plumbing trade.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission denied the employer/insurer's motion to dismiss the health care provider's application for review, finding the application satisfied the specificity requirements of 8 CSR 20-3.030(3)(A). The underlying medical fee dispute involved a claim for additional reimbursement related to the employee's compensable occupational disease (lateral epicondylitis) of the left elbow sustained on September 29, 2010.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Kabura Jack for a repetitive strain injury to his right upper extremity sustained while cutting meat at Triumph Foods. Although the injury was found to be compensable and arose out of employment, no compensation was awarded due to the finding of no permanent disability.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award denying workers' compensation benefits despite finding the claimant sustained a compensable bilateral shoulder injury from repetitive trauma on June 14, 2006. The case involved a dispute regarding compensation eligibility for an occupational disease with documented 22% permanent disability to each shoulder.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation to Stephen Barkley for a work-related injury. The Commission rejected the Second Injury Fund's evidentiary challenges and found the award was supported by competent and substantial evidence in accordance with Missouri Workers' Compensation Law.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of permanent partial or permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund, finding that the employee failed to meet his burden of proof regarding medical causation despite the Fund's stipulation of an on-the-job injury. The decision clarifies that while the Fund admitted an accident occurred on December 18, 2007 arising out of employment, the employee was required to establish that the accident was the prevailing factor in causing both the resulting medical condition and disability.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Makeyta Jones for a work-related injury to her shoulders, neck, and low back sustained on September 1, 2011, while assisting a resident at HCR Manor Care. The claimant was awarded 10 weeks of permanent partial disability compensation totaling $1,710.60, representing 2.5% permanent disability of the body as a whole.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of compensation for an occupational disease claimed by the deceased employee's widow, rejecting the employer's argument that the employee failed to show unequal exposure to pathogens compared to the general public. The Court held that the statutory criteria for occupational disease compensability under § 287.067 RSMo do not require the "unequal exposure" standard applicable to injury-by-accident claims, as the legislature removed such language in a 2005 amendment.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits, finding that the employee failed to meet his burden of proof regarding medical causation for an alleged occupational disease claim involving cumulative trauma to the left shoulder. The employee's expert failed to sufficiently distinguish between effects of a prior 2003 shoulder injury and alleged new cumulative trauma, and was apparently unaware that the employee had changed job positions in 2009.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to employee Tony Dowling for asbestos exposure claimed to have occurred on May 1, 1999. The court determined that there was only an exposure to asbestos and not a compensable occupational disease under Missouri workers' compensation law.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award in a workers' compensation case involving employee Michael Ard's October 15, 2010 work injury, determining a 65% permanent partial impairment of the body as a whole. The Commission also addressed dependent status and marital validity issues arising after the employee's death on September 14, 2013.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Kelly Reisa's bilateral plantar fasciitis, an occupational disease resulting from 10 years of repetitive work activities as a territory sales manager. The employee was awarded permanent partial disability compensation for injuries to both feet, with permanent disability rated at 1% for the right foot and 20% for the left foot.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to the widow of Richard Campbell, a small business owner who died in a single-car accident while traveling for work on April 11, 2011. The dissenting opinion argued the claim should be reversed, contending that the employee's death resulted from an unexplained accident rather than a work-related cause, though the majority found the evidence supported compensability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits for Betty Shackleford's claimed aggravation of preexisting degenerative disc disease from a September 15, 2010 accident. The denial was upheld because the employee's expert medical opinion relied upon a description of the accident that was not supported by the record as a whole, making the opinion fatally lacking in persuasive force.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award denying all workers' compensation benefits in a claim for heat exhaustion allegedly sustained on June 4, 2011. The Commission found that while the injury was occupational in nature and properly reported, it did not arise out of and in the course of employment, and therefore no compensation was awarded.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award granting workers' compensation benefits to Billy Styles for injuries sustained from an assault by a client on August 10, 2010. The employee was found to be permanently and totally disabled and awarded temporary total disability benefits, permanent total disability benefits, medical reimbursement, and future medical benefits.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Donna M. Blyzes for alleged psychological stress and asthma caused by cigar smoke exposure. The award found no compensable injury or occupational disease under Missouri law, resulting in no benefits awarded.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award denying compensation for an occupational disease claim, finding that the employee failed to meet her burden of proof regarding medical causation. The court held that work must be a substantial factor in causing the medical condition, not merely a triggering or precipitating factor.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award denying workers' compensation to Kathy Finnell, finding she did not sustain a compensable accident or occupational disease arising out of her employment on August 21, 2003. The commission corrected clerical errors in the original award and clarified that psychological disability allegedly resulting from an alleged assault at the prosecutor's office was not causally related to work.

The Commission reversed the administrative law judge's decision and awarded compensation for a psychiatric injury sustained as an occupational disease arising from the employee's 20+ years of work as a highway supervisor responding to fatal motor vehicle accidents. The employee's mental stress injury was found to be causally related to extraordinary occupational exposures including witnessing multiple fatalities and traumatic accident scenes.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing compensation for an employee's work-related asthma with bronchial reactivity caused by occupational exposure. The Commission found the employee satisfied statutory notice requirements, as the 30-day notice period was triggered by the correct medical diagnosis of irritant-induced bronchial reactivity rather than an earlier misdiagnosis of restrictive lung disease.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Felicia Buffington for an occupational disease involving repetitive use of upper extremities and cervical spine injury occurring on November 9, 2010. The total compensation awarded was $115,846.09, including unpaid medical expenses, permanent partial disability, and disfigurement benefits.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund, finding insufficient evidence that the employee's preexisting conditions constituted a serious hindrance to employment. Although the employee credibly testified to multiple disabling preexisting conditions including chronic thoracolumbar strain, the case was ultimately unsuccessful due to inadequate proof connecting these conditions to the statutory threshold for Second Injury Fund liability.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits, finding that the employee failed to establish extraordinary or unusual work-related stress due to unreliable testimony regarding alleged harassment. The court found the employee's account of harassment incidents to be unpersuasive and lacking in credibility, partly based on inconsistencies with a prior claim against a different employer.