Filtered workers' comp decisions

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding Dr. Strecker more credible than Dr. Schlafly regarding the diagnosis of cubital tunnel syndrome rather than carpal tunnel syndrome. The Commission determined that the medical evidence did not support the need for the recommended surgeries for carpal tunnel syndrome as originally awarded.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award to clarify that the employee is permanently and totally disabled due to the work-related right shoulder injury considered alone, and remanded the Second Injury Fund liability question for further determination. The employee, injured in August 2001 while working as a bus monitor, suffered a serious shoulder injury requiring four surgeries including total shoulder replacement, resulting in debilitating ongoing pain.

The Commission affirmed that the employee sustained a compensable work injury from a sexual assault that occurred on November 15, 2006, causing post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression, and modified the administrative law judge's award regarding the rate of compensation for permanent partial disability benefits. The employee was found 45% permanently partially disabled and entitled to workers' compensation benefits.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's October 20, 2011 award finding the claimant, a school custodian, sustained a compensable left ankle fracture while performing job duties, with 40% permanent partial disability awarded. The Commission modified the award to provide broader future medical care coverage as reasonably required to cure and relieve the effects of the injury, rather than limiting it to specific treatments.

The Missouri LIRC modified the administrative law judge's award, affirming that the employee is permanently and totally disabled due to combined primary occupational disease injuries to the low back and shoulder areas plus preexisting conditions, with the Second Injury Fund liable for permanent total disability benefits. The Commission corrected clerical errors in the injury number designations but maintained the substantive analysis and liability determination regarding the Second Injury Fund's obligation.

The Commission modified the ALJ's amended award regarding medical provider selection in Glen Nickelson's workers' compensation case. The Commission affirmed the award of future medical care but clarified that the employer retains the right to select medical providers going forward, except for the specific treatment that was previously refused.

The LIRC modified the ALJ's award, clarifying that while the employer waived its right to select medical providers for the specific treatment the employee requested and the employer refused, the employer retains its right to direct and select medical providers for all future medical care. The Commission affirmed the ALJ's allowance of future medical care and approved the attorney's fee as fair and reasonable.

The Commission modified the ALJ's amended award, finding that while the employee was entitled to select his own medical provider for specific treatment that the employer refused to provide, the employer retains the right to control selection of medical providers for all other future medical care. The decision clarifies that an employer's refusal to provide noticed treatment does not constitute a waiver of its general right to direct medical provider selection going forward.

The Commission modified the ALJ's decision by affirming the award of future medical care but finding that the employer did not waive its right to select the employee's medical providers for future treatment. The employer retains the right to direct the selection of medical providers going forward, except for the specific treatment that was initially refused, which the employee may pursue independently.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award, finding the Second Injury Fund liable for permanent partial disability benefits by correctly applying the 50-week threshold to all of the employee's preexisting conditions rather than evaluating them in isolation. The Commission affirmed that the employee was not permanently and totally disabled but increased the award by including preexisting depression and applying a 15% multiplicity factor for bilateral wrist disability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's decision to award reasonable costs of recovery to the employee under § 287.203 RSMo, finding that the employee was the prevailing party when the judge granted her request for ankle surgery and temporary total disability benefits. The Commission rejected the employer's argument that the employee did not prevail merely because the judge deferred ruling on one issue to the final award.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award, finding the Second Injury Fund liable for 10.775 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits instead of 6.4 weeks. The Commission corrected the application of statutory thresholds by considering all of the employee's preexisting disabling conditions in aggregate rather than in isolation, including preexisting ankle and wrist conditions totaling 74.75 weeks.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's temporary award, agreeing that the employee's February 27, 2011 injury was compensable and affirming the award of future medical care. However, the Commission reversed the finding that the insurer should pay employer and employee's reasonable attorney fees and expenses, determining the insurer's defense was not egregious or without reasonable grounds.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding that the employee sustained a work-related back injury in January 2006 with 20% permanent partial disability, and that an intervening injury in June 2006 broke the chain of medical causation for additional compensation. The Commission rejected the ALJ's unsupported finding of preexisting disability and determined medical causation based on credibility findings favoring employer's medical experts over employee's experts.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award regarding Second Injury Fund liability, rejecting the ALJ's exclusion of certain preexisting disabilities from the calculation. The Commission clarified that preexisting conditions need not individually meet statutory thresholds to be considered in Second Injury Fund liability calculations when combined with a work injury.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award regarding Second Injury Fund liability and medical provider selection, increasing the SIF liability calculation to include preexisting psychiatric disability and clarifying that the employer retains control over medical provider selection. The decision also addresses temporary total disability benefits for a specific period in 2005.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award regarding a lower back injury sustained by employee Connie Johnson on October 9, 2005, while lifting a table at work. The decision addresses the extent of permanent partial disability and medical benefits based on medical evidence showing significant improvement and maximum medical improvement reached in May 2006.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award to grant Jackie Hampton future medical treatment for compensable low back and cervical spine injuries, including over-the-counter pain medications. The decision clarified that an employer must provide medical care reasonably required to treat work-related injuries even if the employee had a preexisting condition, as long as the need for treatment flows from the work accident.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award by removing findings on compensability that exceeded the parties' stipulated issues, which only addressed which injury was the prevailing factor in the need for medical treatment and temporary total disability benefits. The Commission clarified this as a temporary award under § 287.510 RSMo and noted that issues regarding past medical expenses were expressly reserved for later determination.

The Commission modified the ALJ's award to grant permanent total disability (PTD) benefits from the Second Injury Fund, finding that the employee's work-related injuries to his knee, back, and neck in combination with preexisting disabilities rendered him unable to engage in substantial gainful activity. The decision upheld medical expert testimony that the employee was permanently and totally disabled as a direct result of the December 2008 work injury combined with all preexisting medical conditions.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding that the judge improperly excluded the employee's preexisting social phobia disorder from Second Injury Fund liability calculations. The Commission corrected the analysis of Second Injury Fund thresholds and determined that preexisting disabilities must be considered collectively rather than in isolation when determining fund liability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the ALJ's award regarding Second Injury Fund liability in a case involving a worker with a primary lumbar spine injury from a July 25, 2005 workplace accident. The Commission affirmed that the employee sustained a compensable work injury and is permanently and totally disabled, but modified the extent of Second Injury Fund liability based on whether the disability resulted from the primary injury alone or in combination with preexisting conditions.

The LIRC affirmed the administrative law judge's award of enhanced permanent partial disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund for a compensable shoulder injury but modified the enhancement factor from 15% to 10% as stipulated by the parties. The Second Injury Fund was ordered to pay $6,248.23 in enhanced permanent partial disability benefits.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding that the judge improperly excluded employee's preexisting diabetes, left shoulder, and right hand conditions when determining Second Injury Fund liability. The Commission rejected the judge's threshold analysis and clarified that preexisting disabilities must be considered collectively rather than in isolation when calculating Second Injury Fund compensation.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award, finding that the Second Injury Fund was liable for permanent partial disability benefits and rejecting the judge's improper analysis of threshold requirements for triggering Second Injury Fund liability. The Commission affirmed that the employee failed to prove permanent total disability but clarified that preexisting conditions need not individually meet statutory thresholds to be considered in Second Injury Fund liability analysis when they synergistically combine with the primary work injury.