Filtered Decisions

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation, finding that collateral estoppel did not apply and that Gregory and Toni Palm were not employers under Missouri workers' compensation law. Joseph Hamilton failed to establish an employment relationship with the homeowners for a residential roofing and barn improvement project.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for Shane Null's work-related low back compression fracture injury. The Commission found the award was supported by competent and substantial evidence and in accordance with Missouri Workers' Compensation Law.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation to Michelle Belt for a low back injury and psychiatric conditions sustained on January 5, 2008, while transferring a patient as a patient care associate. The award included temporary total disability payments, permanent partial disability compensation of 180 weeks, and approved attorney's fees.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits for a 67-year-old employee who suffered a work injury to his cervical spine, shoulder, and neck after slipping on snow-covered pavement. The decision addresses a dissenting opinion regarding whether permanent total disability benefits should be assessed against the employer or the Second Injury Fund in light of the employee's preexisting cervical spondylosis.

The LIRC affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for a July 2008 lower back injury that caused radiating pain into the right leg, rating it as 20% permanent partial disability of the body as a whole. The court determined that while the employee was not permanently and totally disabled from the last injury alone, compensation was warranted for the documented worsening of pre-existing low back conditions.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability compensation to Marlene Stewart for a February 2009 work injury, finding the Second Injury Fund liable despite her preexisting chronic conditions. The decision established that Stewart's demonstrated ability to compete in the labor market and secure multiple part-time positions before the primary injury negated claims she was permanently and totally disabled beforehand.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Gary Scott for a low back injury sustained while performing excavation work on uneven terrain. The Commission found that although an accident occurred, it did not arise out of and in the course of employment as required by Missouri Workers' Compensation Law.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Christine Moore for claims arising from verbal and mental harassment by coworkers in April 2008. The court found that the alleged injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment and was therefore not compensable under Missouri workers' compensation law.

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 allowing workers' compensation for Jennifer Thomas, finding the employer egregiously failed to comply with a temporary award by refusing to pay for prescribed medical treatments. The Commission addressed the employer's non-compliance with § 287.510 RSMo regarding potential doubling of unpaid compensation amounts.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying compensation in this workers' compensation case, despite finding the back injury compensable under Missouri law. The employee had settled her case with the employer-insurer for 50% permanent partial disability of the body as a whole referable to the low back, resulting in no additional compensation being awarded.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing the widow of a deceased employee to receive lifetime permanent total disability benefits under Schoemehl v. Treasurer of State. The Second Injury Fund's argument that divestment provisions should apply to limit these benefits was rejected based on controlling precedent from Spradling v. Treasurer of Missouri.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits in a case involving a bus accident on August 29, 2008, where the employee sustained a transient low back injury with no permanent disability. Although the injury was deemed compensable and work-related, no compensation was awarded because the injury did not result in any lasting impairment.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation for Tyler Kelsey's left upper extremity crush injury sustained on December 30, 2008, when his hand was caught in a machine at Loy Lange Box Co. The award includes compensation for temporary disability, 126 weeks of permanent partial disability at 60% of the left upper extremity, and disfigurement benefits.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award granting lifetime permanent total disability benefits under Schoemehl to the widow of a deceased employee. The Commission rejected the Second Injury Fund's argument that divestment provisions should apply, relying on controlling precedent from Spradling v. Treasurer of Missouri which established that Schoemehl benefits must be paid over the lifetime of surviving dependents.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of permanent total disability benefits under Schoemehl to the surviving dependent (widower) of a deceased employee for his lifetime. The Second Injury Fund's argument that divestment provisions should apply to limit lifetime benefits was rejected based on precedent from Spradling v. Treasurer of Missouri requiring compensation over the lifetime of surviving dependents.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to David Brading for a left shoulder injury sustained on November 7, 2009, when a pry bar slipped and struck his shoulder while working. The Commission found the injury compensable and approved permanent partial disability compensation of 27.5% of the left shoulder, with the Second Injury Fund liable for 35.975 weeks of benefits totaling $15,216.35.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for David Davy's occupational back injury sustained in a truck accident on October 29, 2007. The employee was found to have suffered 12.5% permanent partial disability of the body as a whole from injury to the low back and lumbar spine.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Stephanie Patterson for alleged radial tunnel syndrome in her right upper extremity. The court 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 Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund, rejecting the Fund's argument that occupational disease cannot be a primary injury. The employee was found to be permanently and totally disabled due to the combined effects of the occupational disease injury and preexisting disabilities.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award granting workers' compensation benefits to Elizabeth Downing for a back injury sustained while working as a waitress on August 6, 2005 and June 12, 2006. The claimant was awarded $18,091.88 in total compensation including unpaid medical expenses, temporary total disability, and permanent partial disability benefits.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Mark Cerutti for work-related bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and left trigger finger, with corrections made to references regarding hand laterality. The employee was awarded permanent partial disability compensation totaling 57.75 weeks for injuries to both hands and wrists.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Donna E. Todd for injuries sustained when she slipped and fell while pulling a pallet jack on October 4, 2005, striking her left arm, tailbone, and back. The employee settled for permanent partial disability ratings of 60% for thoracic spine, 15% for coccyx, and 30% for left wrist, with a weekly compensation rate of $288.95.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of permanent total disability benefits to employee Kathleen Wright, a truck driver who suffered an impacted fracture of the distal radius after falling at work on August 4, 2009, when her foot caught on a concrete offset. The Commission rejected the Second Injury Fund's argument that the injury was non-compensable as resulting from an idiopathic cause (Meniere's disease-related balance problems) and found the employee permanently and totally disabled based on the combination of her primary injury and preexisting conditions.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for James Kellerman's back injury sustained on August 22, 2006, while employed at Plaza Motors. The Commission issued a supplemental opinion correcting minor factual findings regarding back surgery recommendations and the credentials of a treating physician, but found these corrections did not affect the ALJ's ultimate conclusions.