Filtered Decisions

The Missouri LIRC affirmed the ALJ's award finding employee Wanda Wright permanently and totally disabled solely due to physical and psychological disabilities from the primary injury. Permanent total disability benefits were awarded commencing March 26, 2008, the day following termination of temporary total disability benefits.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation for Charles Harris III, who developed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome from repetitive use of his hands as a contractor. The Second Injury Fund was ordered to pay 21.53 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits totaling $8,712.33 for 15% permanent partial disability of both wrists.

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 affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Hiba Sadic for an alleged right shoulder injury occurring on April 4, 2006, while working on a production line at Semco Plastics Company. The Commission found that the injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment, and therefore no compensation was awarded.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award finding the employee permanently and totally disabled from a compensable work injury sustained on October 18, 2006, when struck by falling lumber. The Commission rejected the employer/insurer's argument regarding Second Injury Fund liability, clarifying that such liability only applies when primary injury results in permanent partial disability, not total disability.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award finding that employee Rosario Grado sustained a compensable back injury while lifting a gate in the course of employment on August 1, 2008. The employee was awarded 12.5% permanent partial disability through settlement with the employer and permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund.

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 reversed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to an employee who slipped and fell on stairs in a shared office building stairwell, finding that the employee failed to prove her injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment. The reversal was based on the determination that the employer did not own or control the common area where the fall occurred.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Barbara Shupe for a work injury sustained on September 15, 2009. The decision upheld liability for past medical expenses and temporary total disability benefits, finding the employer was on notice of the employee's need for treatment but failed to provide it.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing compensation for Barbara Magouirk's bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome developed from repetitive hand use in employment. The Commission rejected the Second Injury Fund's argument that occupational diseases are excluded from the definition of 'injury' for purposes of Second Injury Fund liability.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Barbara Shupe for a work-related lumbar injury (herniated disc and piriformis syndrome) sustained on August 31, 2009. The Commission found the employee met her burden on medical causation, temporary total disability, and permanent partial disability benefits.

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 affirmed the ALJ's Final Award denying compensation to employee Jayson Brockhouse, finding that the employee failed to meet his burden of proof regarding notice and medical causation of a May 30, 2008 workplace accident. The decision upholds the denial of claims against both the employer and the Second Injury Fund.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing compensation for James Hershel Demore's work-related motor vehicle accident that occurred on June 29, 2009 while traveling to respond to a vandalism and burglary incident for his employer. The award covered unpaid medical expenses of $7,426.77 with a 25 percent attorney's lien.

The Commission affirmed the ALJ's amended award granting Ozie C. Prier permanent total disability benefits against the Second Injury Fund, with a maximum medical improvement date of December 20, 2007. The Commission rejected arguments from the employee and Second Injury Fund regarding an earlier MMI date and the alleged overpayment credit for temporary total disability benefits.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award granting permanent total disability benefits to Clyde Crane for a left shoulder injury sustained on July 2, 2008, finding that medical evidence supported causation despite preexisting shoulder problems. The court determined that the work injury caused a rotator cuff tear and was the prevailing factor in the employee's permanent total disability, with benefits to be paid by the Second Injury Fund.

The Commission affirmed the ALJ's denial of workers' compensation benefits for hearing loss allegedly caused by a September 7, 2007 workplace accident where the employee was struck in the head with a pallet jack. The employee failed to meet the burden of proof by offering inadmissible medical records containing hearsay opinions without proper foundational evidence or expert testimony establishing the causal relationship between the accident and hearing loss.

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 Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for John King's left knee injury sustained on November 10, 2004 in the course of his employment. The Commission awarded 28.46 weeks of permanent partial disability compensation totaling $8,488.76 from the Second Injury Fund, in addition to the 24 weeks of permanent partial disability previously paid by the employer.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission reversed the administrative law judge's denial of compensation, finding that the denial was not supported by competent and substantial evidence. The employee, a 62-year-old laborer, sustained a work-related low back injury on July 25, 2006, while lifting a trash can, which was his fourth back injury, and sought permanent total disability benefits against the Second Injury Fund.

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, 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 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 Commission reversed the Administrative Law Judge's decision, finding that the employee met her burden of proving the December 21, 2007 workplace slip-and-fall accident was the prevailing factor in causing her low back medical condition and disability. The employee, a teacher's aide with prior back surgeries and injuries, is entitled to workers' compensation benefits for her resulting condition.