Filtered workers' comp decisions

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's decision, finding that Second Injury Fund liability was properly placed in issue for the hearing and that the employee is entitled to permanent partial disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund. The award denying employee Second Injury Fund benefits was reversed.

The Missouri Supreme Court reversed the LIRC's decision that permanent total disability benefits ceased upon the employee's death, holding that the widow is entitled to the unpaid balance of the PTD award. The LIRC modified the administrative law judge's award accordingly, affirming all other aspects of the decision.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award for the employee's hernia injury but reversed the award for the left hip injury, finding that the work accident was not a substantial cause of the hip injury. The employee, William Bauman, suffered injuries on August 13, 2002, at United Parcel Service in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, adjusting the compensation rate from $120.03 to $121.24 per week based on a recalculation of average weekly earnings using fourteen weeks of wage data. The Commission also increased the reimbursable medical expenses from $9,186.42 to $15,325.45.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, adjusting the temporary total disability rate from $590.17 to $599.96 per week based on proper calculation of average weekly wages. The Commission affirmed all other findings and conclusions of the administrative law judge regarding the workers' compensation claim.

The Missouri Court of Appeals reversed the Commission's prior award and remanded the case, requiring reconsideration of medical causation for a discogram procedure and related disability benefits. The Commission affirmed that the discogram and its resulting complications were medically causally connected to the September 16, 1997 work-related back injury.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award in a workers' compensation case involving a lumbar spine injury and chronic depression sustained on September 28, 1998. The Commission affirmed the finding of work-related injury but modified conclusions regarding permanent total disability, past medical expenses, and future medical care.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's finding that the employee's right cubital tunnel syndrome was not compensable but reversed the decision regarding left carpal tunnel syndrome. The employee, a gardener of fifteen years, developed symptoms of left carpal tunnel syndrome from repetitive work activities including digging, raking, and other manual labor at the cemetery.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, reversing the finding that the employee attained maximum medical improvement due to lack of competent and substantial medical evidence supporting this conclusion. The Commission set aside the permanent partial disability finding of 2.5% as premature, since it was contingent on a maximum medical improvement determination that was not supported by the record.

The Commission modified the previous award to assign liability to Elite Logistics Inc., the last employer to expose the employee to the occupational hazard of carpal tunnel syndrome, rather than Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's calculations and awarded past medical expenses, temporary total disability benefits, and permanent partial disability benefits (20% for left wrist) from Elite Logistics Inc.

The LIRC modified the administrative law judge's award by reversing the $1,083.73 costs assessment against Havens Erectors, Inc., finding that § 287.560 RSMo does not authorize cost awards when a party fails to defend a claim, only when a claim is defended without reasonable ground. The Commission affirmed the allowance of attorney's fees and adopted the ALJ's findings and conclusions except as modified regarding the costs award and timeliness of the amended answer.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award, finding the employee suffered a 40% permanent partial disability due to an occupationally-induced pulmonary condition and imposing Second Injury Fund liability for enhanced disability. The employee's appeal for permanent total disability status was considered under Missouri's legal standard requiring inability to return to any employment.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award by affirming the finding of permanent and total disability and liability for past medical expenses, but reversed the doubling penalties under section 287.510. The Commission denied the employee's motion for costs on the frivolous appeal claim.

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.

The Missouri LIRC modified the administrative law judge's award by adding temporary total disability benefits for June 1-23, 2004, finding the employee was medically restricted from work during this period pending neurosurgical evaluation. The employee sustained a lumbar strain from a work accident on March 25, 2004, and reached maximum medical improvement after the neurosurgical consultation on June 23, 2004.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award denying compensation, agreeing with the conclusion but substituting its own reasoning regarding the timeliness of the claim. The Commission concluded that the employer timely filed the required report of injury under § 287.380.1, making the employee's claim filed over two years after the last payment time-barred under § 287.430.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award, reducing the employee's compensation from permanent total disability to 15% permanent partial disability of the right knee ($6,526.08) due to credibility determinations regarding the evidence. The Commission reversed findings of liability for additional temporary total disability benefits, unpaid medical expenses ($49,599.60), and future medical care and treatment.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award to allow future medical care as needed to cure and relieve the employee of the effects of his back injury, rather than limiting it to a specific life-care plan. The employee David Kindel was awarded permanent total disability benefits for a work-related back injury sustained on September 14, 1999, while lifting and carrying 50-70 pound boxes.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, specifically addressing St. Louis Housing Authority's liability for past medical expenses in a workers' compensation claim filed by Joseph Muller on August 27, 1997. The Commission affirmed the underlying compensation award while resolving the disputed issue of past medical expense liability after multiple remands and a Court of Appeals dismissal.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award by reversing the denial of a 15% enhancement under § 287.120.4 RSMo for the employer's failure to comply with scaffold safety statutes. The employee established that a scaffold wheel failure caused his injuries and the employer failed to provide exculpatory evidence, satisfying all elements for the statutory enhancement.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award regarding future medical care for the employee's work-related occipital neuralgia and migraines. Rather than awarding a $25,000 lump sum to absolve the employer of liability, the Commission ordered the employer to provide ongoing future medical care and treatment including medication oversight deemed reasonable and necessary to treat the residual headaches from the accident.

The Missouri Court of Appeals reversed the Commission's initial denial of permanent partial disability benefits, remanding the case for reconsideration. The Commission awarded Joseph Zimmerman 5% permanent partial disability compensation for a seizure suffered on November 14, 2001, representing a compromise between medical expert opinions of 2% and 8% disability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the October 19, 2005 award of the administrative law judge in this workers' compensation case involving employee Eric Neathery. The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's decision to issue a final award on all stipulated issues including future medical care, temporary disability, permanent disability, and Second Injury Fund liability, and denied the employee's subsequent motions to submit additional evidence.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award, concluding that the employee was permanently and totally disabled when combining the primary lumbar spine injury with pre-existing disabilities, making the Second Injury Fund liable for lifetime benefits. The employee was awarded permanent total disability benefits commencing January 14, 2004, at $315.50 weekly for 60 weeks, then $662.55 weekly for life.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award in this workers' compensation case involving Charles Curtis, who was injured on July 16, 2003, at Daimler-Chrysler Corporation in St. Louis County. The Commission reviewed the ALJ's award of 200 weeks of permanent partial disability and the determination that the employee was permanently totally disabled when the work injury was combined with pre-existing conditions.