Filtered Decisions

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 Administrative Law Judge's award by reversing the determination that the employee failed to prove the need for future medical treatment. The Commission awarded the employee future medical care and treatment for burn injuries to his bilateral upper extremities, finding competent medical testimony supported the reasonably probable need for ongoing pain management, neoprene support, and monitoring for potential scar cancer.

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.

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 Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award, finding employee's testimony regarding a boom truck injury to his jaw on November 30, 1992 (or January 1993) to be not credible due to inconsistencies with medical records and the employee's own statements to hospital staff. The Commission concluded that employee did not sustain a compensable work-related injury based on the credible evidence of record.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding a baseball pitcher's right elbow injury sustained on July 15, 1993, primarily to adjust attorney's fees. The Commission affirmed the compensability of the occupational disease claim and the underlying award while rejecting the cap on attorney's fees, allowing 25% of benefits awarded.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, reducing the permanent partial disability rating for the left hand to 30% permanent partial disability of the left index finger at the proximal joint, while affirming awards for temporary total disability and disfigurement. The employee sustained injuries to multiple fingers and thumbs when his left hand was caught in a drill press while changing the bit on January 21, 2003.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award regarding Second Injury Fund liability, affirming that the employee sustained permanent partial disability (not total disability) but correcting a miscalculation in the benefit amount. The corrected award is 22 weeks of compensation at $347.05 per week, rather than the 33 weeks originally awarded, based on proper calculation of combined disabilities.

The LIRC modified the Administrative Law Judge's award, finding that the October 14, 1997 injury resulted in permanent partial disability rather than permanent total disability standing alone. The Commission agreed with the employer/insurer that the combination of the primary injury and employee's preexisting disabilities resulted in permanent total disability, with liability shifting to the Second Injury Fund.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the award of the Associate Administrative Law Judge dated June 13, 2005, regarding a workers' compensation claim for a cervical spine injury sustained by Jack Carte on August 27, 1998. The Commission awarded permanent partial disability benefits of 40% of the body as a whole referable to the cervical spine, temporary total disability benefits, unpaid medical expenses, and future medical treatment for the cervical spine injury, with the Second Injury Fund liable for additional permanent partial disability benefits due to synergistic effect with pre-existing disabilities.

The Commission affirmed that employee's exposure to chemicals caused a pulmonary condition (asthma) and awarded permanent partial disability compensation. Following remand from the Missouri Supreme Court, the Commission modified the award regarding past medical expenses, determining employee's personal liability for certain medical bills and increasing overall compensation due to change of condition.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award regarding the beginning date for permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund, changing it from November 24, 2004 to June 16, 2001. The employee was awarded 100 weeks of permanent partial disability from the employer plus permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund payable at $52.41 weekly for 100 weeks, then $366.67 weekly for life.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding the employee suffered a compensable injury to her left upper extremity due to repetitive trauma on May 29, 2002. The Commission adjusted the permanent partial disability rating for the left elbow, with medical experts providing conflicting assessments ranging from 2% to 35% disability.