Filtered Decisions

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to a housekeeper injured when attacked by a German shepherd dog while opening a guest room. The claimant was awarded permanent disability benefits for left shoulder (15%), left breast (7.5%), and psychiatric injury (10%) with a weekly compensation rate of $215.00.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits, finding that while the employee suffered an accident when he died at work, the claimant failed to prove that work was the prevailing factor in causing his death. The medical expert's theory lacked sufficient factual foundation regarding the specific physical exertions the employee was performing at the time of his fatal cardiovascular event.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits for Troy Schroer, who suffered a head injury after slipping and hitting his head on a manhole rim while climbing out during employment. Schroer is entitled to permanent total disability benefits of $470.13 weekly from January 21, 2010, ongoing for his lifetime, plus future medical benefits.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for an employee who injured his right knee stepping from a van onto a ramp during employment on March 1, 2003. The award includes permanent partial disability compensation and lifetime benefits from the Second Injury Fund.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for an employee who fell from a ladder on February 23, 2006, sustaining injuries to his right ankle and a psychiatric condition. The award includes permanent partial disability compensation and permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing compensation for employee Bobby Mock's work injuries and entitlement to future medical treatment. However, the Commission clarified that the employer retains the statutory right to direct future medical treatment under Missouri law, rejecting the ALJ's finding that failure to authorize prior treatment constituted a waiver of this right.

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 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 permanent partial disability benefits to Earl Resinger for work-related tinnitus caused by noisy work conditions. The court upheld the sufficiency of a PhD audiologist's testimony to establish medical causation, finding it satisfied the employee's burden of proof despite employer arguments to the contrary.

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 Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying compensation in this workers' compensation case involving a right wrist injury sustained by Carolyn Griffin on March 9, 1995. The Second Injury Fund was found not liable for disability benefits, and the employer had previously settled the claim for 70% permanent partial disability.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation to employee Lisa Cook for right carpal tunnel syndrome caused by repetitive typing duties as a data entry worker. The decision found that the employee's occupational exposure to repetitive hand and finger movements was the prevailing factor in causing the carpal tunnel syndrome and resulting permanent partial disability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for an employee who developed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome from repetitive typing duties. The Commission found that the employee's occupational exposure to repetitive flexor tendon movements from typing was the prevailing factor causing her left carpal tunnel syndrome and permanent partial disability.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying all workers' compensation benefits, finding that although the employee sustained a work-related fall down stairs, no compensable injury resulted from the incident. The claim was denied in full with no compensation awarded for temporary or permanent disability.

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 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 Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award denying compensation to employee James Bowman in workers' compensation case No. 07-128481. The Commission disagreed with the judge's evidentiary ruling excluding medical reports and clarified that such reports are admissible under the statutory procedures outlined in § 287.210.7 RSMo.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Charlene K. Conlan's injuries sustained in an elevator malfunction incident on October 13, 2006. The employee suffered physical injuries to her head, neck, and left wrist, as well as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the work-related accident.

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 award allowing workers' compensation benefits for the employee's carpal tunnel syndrome and resultant conversion disorder, with future medical treatment remaining open for modification. The Commission clarified that while the employee's husband and daughter qualify as dependents for potential Schoemehl benefits, such benefits cannot be adjudicated while the employee is still living.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing compensation for an employee with preexisting hearing loss, rejecting the Second Injury Fund's argument that occupational hearing loss cannot constitute a disability affecting the body as a whole. The court found the decision consistent with controlling precedent in Pierson v. Treasurer of Missouri and determined that the 2005 amendments to the Workers' Compensation Law did not silently abrogate that holding.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying further compensation in this case, finding the injury to the right shoulder was compensable but settlement had already been reached. Kenneth D. Phillips received $79,521.92 in temporary disability and $154,352.73 in medical aid, with no additional compensation awarded.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits to William Palmer for a work-related left shoulder injury sustained on June 2, 2011, when he was pinned between a trash truck and a pole. The employer was ordered to pay weekly permanent total disability benefits of $432.18 for the remainder of the claimant's life.