Filtered Decisions

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Kelly Reisa's bilateral plantar fasciitis, an occupational disease resulting from 10 years of repetitive work activities as a territory sales manager. The employee was awarded permanent partial disability compensation for injuries to both feet, with permanent disability rated at 1% for the right foot and 20% for the left foot.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Steven R. Bladdick for a left shoulder injury sustained on April 6, 2012, when he fell down stairs while carrying EMS equipment in full fireman's gear. The award included 69.6 weeks of permanent partial disability (PPD) from the employer and 90.3 weeks of PPD from the Second Injury Fund, totaling $38,394.66.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to James DeWald for injuries sustained on August 24, 2012, when he jumped into a rolling tele loader to stop it. The claimant was awarded $21,679.00 in permanent partial disability compensation for permanent injuries to his neck (5% BAW) and low back (7.5% BAW).

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Carmela McCurdy-Cade for a right knee injury sustained on January 30, 2013, while employed at the Department of Corrections. The award includes permanent partial disability compensation of 20% of the right knee at the 160-week level, medical expenses totaling $30,988.87, and mileage reimbursement.

The Missouri LIRC affirmed the administrative law judge's award of death benefits to the widow of Dennis L. Hadley, who died in a motor vehicle accident while driving a tractor-trailer in the course of his employment. The court rejected the employer's arguments regarding improper calculation of the weekly death benefit and the applicability of benefit reduction provisions under § 287.120.5 RSMo.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Patricia Hulsey for an alleged right foot, heel, and ankle injury sustained on May 31, 2007 at Chrysler. The claim was denied because the injury was determined not to have arisen out of and in the course of employment under Missouri workers' compensation law.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's decision denying all workers' compensation benefits for Patricia Hulsey's alleged low back injury from assembly line work at Chrysler. The Commission found that the injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment under Missouri workers' compensation law.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Isabella Lovadina for injuries sustained in an assault on October 5, 2009. The claimant was awarded 40% permanent disability of the body as a whole and 17.5% of the right shoulder, with the Second Injury Fund liable for differential weekly payments.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits for an employee claiming bilateral inguinal hernias from lifting a table at work on April 14, 2012. The Commission found that the employee failed to prove that the accident was the prevailing factor in causing the claimed medical condition and disability, as required under Missouri law.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding temporary total disability benefits while affirming the compensation rates and permanent partial disability awards. The employee, Justin Holmes, was found to have suffered a 35% permanent partial disability of the right shoulder, 10% disability of the body as a whole referable to the low back, and 10% disability referable to post-traumatic headaches and mild cognitive dysfunction.

The Missouri LIRC affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for an employee with tinnitus and hearing loss, finding the award supported by competent and substantial evidence. One commissioner dissented, arguing that objective speech recognition testing showed normal ability to understand spoken words, which should prevail over subjective complaints of speech discrimination impairment.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding Second Injury Fund liability for James Lutes' workers' compensation claim. The Commission rejected several of the employee's claims for enhanced permanent partial disability benefits for preexisting conditions affecting the right hand trigger finger, right elbow, cardiovascular system, and right shoulder, finding insufficient evidence to support these additional ratings.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Frank Ponticello for a right shoulder injury sustained on July 14, 2010 while reaching to move cases of beer. The claimant was awarded 58 weeks of permanent partial disability compensation totaling $24,277.64 for 25% permanent partial disability of the right shoulder.

The Commission reversed the administrative law judge's decision and awarded workers' compensation benefits to Donald Elliott for a low back injury that occurred on July 13, 2005, while working as a stonemason. The employee had a prior low back injury from 1996 with a herniated L5-S1 disc, but the Commission found his subsequent injury arose out of and in the course of his employment.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for an employee who suffered a right ankle injury when she fell on employer-controlled premises while avoiding a crowd of students at the end of her work shift. The Commission found the injury arose out of and in the course of employment under the extended premises doctrine, as the employee was on premises owned and controlled by the employer and was exposed to a hazardous condition (steep sidewalk drop-off) not equally present in normal nonemployment life.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation for Warren Cotner (deceased), whose surviving spouse Ruth Cotner was substituted as claimant. The employee suffered a compensable injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment when he stumbled and fell while checking an air compressor in a shuttle van he was driving for the employer.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award regarding Second Injury Fund liability for an employee who sustained a work-related accident in September 2007 resulting in 26% permanent partial disability, with a preexisting 25% permanent partial disability to the low back. The decision addresses whether the Second Injury Fund is liable for permanent total disability benefits in addition to permanent partial disability benefits.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to the widow of Richard Campbell, a small business owner who died in a single-car accident while traveling for work on April 11, 2011. The dissenting opinion argued the claim should be reversed, contending that the employee's death resulted from an unexplained accident rather than a work-related cause, though the majority found the evidence supported compensability.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of Second Injury Fund benefits for an employee who sustained a left wrist sprain injury at work. The employee failed to present credible evidence of synergistic interaction between the primary left wrist injury and preexisting conditions affecting his groin, left ankle, and right knee.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award denying enhanced permanent partial disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund. The employee reinjured his left ankle at work but failed to establish the requisite synergistic interaction between the primary injury and multiple preexisting conditions necessary for Second Injury Fund liability.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award denying compensation in this workers' compensation case, despite finding the injury from a five-foot fall off a ladder to be compensable under Missouri law. The case involved a truck driver who sustained neck and psychiatric injuries on November 5, 2009, but no benefits were awarded as the matter was settled.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of Second Injury Fund benefits for Jeremy Reynolds, who suffered a left ankle sprain while working at Fulton State Hospital. The employee failed to present credible evidence of synergistic interaction between the primary ankle injury and his preexisting conditions affecting his groin, left ankle, and right knee.

The Missouri LIRC modified the Administrative Law Judge's award in a workers' compensation case involving Richard Ambrozetes's right ankle sprain injury. The Commission affirmed findings on medical causation, liability, and permanent partial disability (20%), but modified the award regarding past medical expenses.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Huston Pointer for a left shoulder injury sustained on May 17, 2010, when he fell from a ladder while shoveling lime. The employee was awarded 20% permanent partial disability of the left shoulder, 15% permanent partial disability of the body as a whole, and was deemed permanently and totally disabled due to the injury combined with preexisting disabilities.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding medical fees for an employee's October 22, 2013 left knee surgery, affirming the additional reimbursement of $1,090.90 to the health care provider while finding certain factual findings of the ALJ erroneous. The Commission determined that the medical charges billed by Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists for the work-related knee injury and surgery were fair and reasonable.