Filtered workers' comp decisions

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award to eliminate the Second Injury Fund's liability for disfigurement benefits of $2,786.60 that the employer had already paid to the employee. The Commission affirmed all other aspects of the decision and awarded the Second Injury Fund liability of $2,124.78 in permanent partial disability benefits based on a calculation of 7.625 weeks of overall greater disability.

The LIRC modified the administrative law judge's decision to allow compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from a February 7, 2009 work accident involving a tow-truck driver. The decision addresses disputes regarding permanent partial disability, temporary total disability, medical expenses, and the credibility of medical experts regarding the employee's injuries.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award regarding the Second Injury Fund's liability for an employee's work-related low back injury sustained when struck by a student. The employee's primary injury (12.5% PPD) combined with preexisting spinal kyphosis (20% PPD) and left knee disability (35% PPD), requiring recalculation of the Fund's enhanced liability obligation.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's April 17, 2012 award in a workers' compensation case involving Shirley Woodruff's compensable back injury sustained on July 11, 2007. The modification established that the employee's husband is entitled to receive permanent total disability benefits contingent upon remaining married to the employee and her predeceasing him.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's June 1, 2012 award, increasing the permanent disability rating from 30% to 35% body as a whole and increasing permanent partial disability compensation from 120 weeks to 140 weeks. The modified total compensation payable to the claimant was increased to $49,996.00.

The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the Commission's May 26, 2011 Final Award regarding Willie White's permanent partial and permanent total disability benefits, but vacated and remanded the portion concerning his surviving dependent's entitlement to succession benefits. The Commission, on remand, adopted the administrative law judge's award of permanent partial and permanent total disability benefits to the employee while clarifying that Schoemehl applies to determine the surviving dependent's rights to unpaid benefits, rejecting the restrictive interpretation that the claim must have originally been filed as permanent total disability.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award, revising the permanent partial disability assessment for a left knee injury sustained on November 19, 2010, when the employee subdued an unruly inmate while working as a lieutenant in the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department. The case addresses whether the employee's 22.5% permanent partial disability award and entitlement to future medical care are supported by competent and substantial evidence.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award in a workers' compensation case involving an occupational disease claim for repetitive work injury to the right shoulder. The employee was awarded compensation for temporary total disability and permanent partial disability benefits, with modifications regarding notice, medical expenses, Second Injury Fund liability, and future medical treatment.

The Missouri Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the Commission's July 2011 award, instructing determination of pre-award interest on medical expenses. The Commission modified the December 2010 administrative law judge's award by supplementing it with $26,384.01 in pre-award interest at 9% per annum from July 20, 2006, through October 15, 2012, and affirmed all other aspects of the original award.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award to include provisions for the employee's wife to receive Permanent Total Disability benefits in the event of the employee's death while married. The employee was struck and twisted by a forklift on June 3, 2008, causing injury to his low back and right lower extremity, with a settlement based on 25% permanent partial disability of the right knee and 2% of the body as a whole related to the back.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award finding the employee permanently and totally disabled from a February 5, 2007 work-related head injury. The Commission reassessed the employee's disability status considering medical opinions regarding traumatic brain injury with cognitive deficits and competing causation arguments involving a prior non-work head injury.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award by applying a $2,500.00 credit that the employer was entitled to against permanent partial disability benefits. The employee was awarded permanent partial disability benefits of 25% of the body as a whole for cervical spine injury and 5% for right shoulder injury sustained in a work-related incident on July 10, 2007.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding that the employee's 2008 fall resulting in left knee and left elbow injuries was a natural consequence of her original 2007 right knee work injury, making the employer liable for both incidents despite separate compensation claims being filed. The employer's argument that filing separate claims precluded proving causal connection was rejected based on Missouri case law establishing that all natural consequences flowing from a compensable work injury are compensable.

The Commission affirmed the ALJ's award of permanent partial disability and permanent total disability benefits for a work-related neck injury with herniated disc, but modified the analysis regarding dependent benefits eligibility. The Supreme Court reversed the denial of continuing permanent total disability payments to the widow, holding that she was entitled to benefits as a dependent under the law in effect at the date of injury (April 6, 2006), prior to 2008 statutory amendments.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, addressing the permanent partial disability claim for an L5-S1 disc herniation injury and clarifying rights of succession following the deaths of both the original employee and his widow. The case involved determination of disability status and eligibility for benefits under Missouri's Second Injury Fund provisions.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the ALJ's award, allowing compensation for a back injury sustained on September 28, 2007, when the employee picked up a wooden pallet at work. The employee, who has not worked since June 2008 due to ongoing severe back pain and related conditions, appealed the denial of permanent total disability benefits.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award of permanent total disability benefits by removing a 15% enhancement under § 287.120.4 RSMo that was inapplicable to claims against the Second Injury Fund, reducing the compensation rate from the enhanced amount to $233.00 per week. The Commission affirmed all other aspects of the administrative law judge's decision and approved the attorney's fee as fair and reasonable.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding the employee sustained a 40% permanent partial disability of the body as a whole referable to the low back and is permanently and totally disabled. The case involves disputes over liability between the employer and the Second Injury Fund for permanent total disability benefits, with the employee arguing the employer rather than the Fund should bear this liability.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award by reversing an improper 25% penalty on temporary total disability benefits, finding that penalties under § 287.560 RSMo can only award the whole cost of proceedings, not a percentage of benefits. All other aspects of the ALJ's award allowing compensation to employee Dennis Bales were affirmed.

The Missouri LIRC modified the ALJ's award to allow compensation for medical expenses from seven additional health care providers beyond the one provider awarded by the ALJ, totaling $51,143.58 in medical bills related to the employee's work-related hip injury. The employee slipped and fell on August 3, 2009, requiring five surgical procedures including a total hip replacement, and the Commission determined sufficient evidence existed to award reimbursement for all credibly documented medical expenses related to the injury.

The LIRC modified the ALJ's award to grant enhanced permanent partial disability benefits against the Second Injury Fund for an employee who injured her low back in December 2009 while assisting another nurse moving a patient. The employee, who was never released to return to work and experiences constant pain radiating to her hip and leg, sought permanent total disability benefits, with medical evidence attributing her restrictions to both her work-related back condition and fibromyalgia.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding that the Second Injury Fund's liability should be increased by including employee's preexisting conditions (hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, hernia, low back, and left shoulder) as hindrances to employment. The Commission determined specific permanent partial disability percentages for each preexisting condition and rejected the administrative law judge's unexplained conclusion that these conditions did not constitute obstacles to reemployment.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of 50% permanent partial disability for a right knee injury from a slip and fall accident in August 2001, but denied compensation for claimed psychiatric injuries of depression and anxiety. The Commission found that employee failed to meet his burden of proof on medical causation for the psychiatric claims due to the absence of medical expert testimony and evidence of pre-existing psychiatric history unrelated to the workplace accident.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding Second Injury Fund liability for an employee's compensable right knee injury sustained on September 16, 2008. The Commission disagreed with the ALJ's analysis of whether the employee's preexisting diabetes constituted a hindrance or obstacle to employment, clarifying that the relevant inquiry focuses on the potential for a condition to combine with a work-related injury to cause greater disability, not on past manifestations of difficulty.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's August 12, 2011 award, affirming the substantive result but requiring redesignation of the 'Summary of the Evidence' section as 'Findings of Fact' to comply with statutory requirements. The Commission found the ALJ's factual analysis adequate but sought to clarify that affirmative findings, not mere evidence summaries, must be expressly labeled in workers' compensation awards.