All Decisions

The Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award denying compensation to employee James Bowman in workers' compensation case No. 07-128481. The Commission disagreed with the judge's evidentiary ruling excluding medical reports and clarified that such reports are admissible under the statutory procedures outlined in § 287.210.7 RSMo.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits, finding that the employee failed to meet his burden of proof regarding medical causation for an alleged occupational disease claim involving cumulative trauma to the left shoulder. The employee's expert failed to sufficiently distinguish between effects of a prior 2003 shoulder injury and alleged new cumulative trauma, and was apparently unaware that the employee had changed job positions in 2009.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for Charlene K. Conlan's injuries sustained in an elevator malfunction incident on October 13, 2006. The employee suffered physical injuries to her head, neck, and left wrist, as well as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the work-related accident.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award, finding that the work accident on June 21, 2011 was the prevailing factor in causing the employee's low back strain/sprain injury and related medical condition. The employee is entitled to compensation for past and future medical aid, temporary total disability benefits, and permanent partial disability benefits, with the Commission rejecting the employer's expert opinion that no permanent disability resulted.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing compensation for an employee with preexisting hearing loss, rejecting the Second Injury Fund's argument that occupational hearing loss cannot constitute a disability affecting the body as a whole. The court found the decision consistent with controlling precedent in Pierson v. Treasurer of Missouri and determined that the 2005 amendments to the Workers' Compensation Law did not silently abrogate that holding.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying further compensation in this case, finding the injury to the right shoulder was compensable but settlement had already been reached. Kenneth D. Phillips received $79,521.92 in temporary disability and $154,352.73 in medical aid, with no additional compensation awarded.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for the employee's carpal tunnel syndrome and resultant conversion disorder, with future medical treatment remaining open for modification. The Commission clarified that while the employee's husband and daughter qualify as dependents for potential Schoemehl benefits, such benefits cannot be adjudicated while the employee is still living.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits to William Palmer for a work-related left shoulder injury sustained on June 2, 2011, when he was pinned between a trash truck and a pole. The employer was ordered to pay weekly permanent total disability benefits of $432.18 for the remainder of the claimant's life.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to employee Tony Dowling for asbestos exposure claimed to have occurred on May 1, 1999. The court determined that there was only an exposure to asbestos and not a compensable occupational disease under Missouri workers' compensation law.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award in a workers' compensation case involving employee Michael Ard's October 15, 2010 work injury, determining a 65% permanent partial impairment of the body as a whole. The Commission also addressed dependent status and marital validity issues arising after the employee's death on September 14, 2013.

The Commission reversed the administrative law judge's decision and awarded compensation to employee James Wickam, finding that his primary occupational disease injury date was September 12, 2003 (not November 6, 2000) and that he established permanent total disability based on his carpal tunnel syndrome combined with preexisting conditions. The Second Injury Fund was found liable for permanent disability benefits.

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.