Filtered Decisions

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.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits for a left wrist injury sustained while wringing out a wet cleaning rag, finding the employee failed to prove the injury arose out of employment under Missouri's causal connection test. The Court determined that wringing out a wet rag involves ordinary risks to which the employee would be equally exposed in normal nonemployment life and was merely a triggering factor rather than the prevailing cause of injury.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits for Betty Shackleford's claimed aggravation of preexisting degenerative disc disease from a September 15, 2010 accident. The denial was upheld because the employee's expert medical opinion relied upon a description of the accident that was not supported by the record as a whole, making the opinion fatally lacking in persuasive force.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Robert Rickerson for a work-related injury, finding the award supported by competent and substantial evidence. The Commission denied the employee's request for costs under § 287.560 RSMo but confirmed that the employer must provide awarded future medical treatment or face liability for costs if the employee obtains care independently.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of compensation for employee Harold Leon Crawford's workplace injury from February 5, 1999. The Commission adopted the ALJ's findings and conclusions while dismissing employer's evidentiary objections and determining that a subsequent motor vehicle accident resulted in no new compensable injury.

The Missouri LIRC modified the administrative law judge's award regarding temporary total disability benefits from June 28, 2012, to May 21, 2013, and the doubling of such benefits under § 287.510 RSMo. The Commission affirmed liability for past medical bills, temporary total disability benefits, and permanent partial disability benefits while addressing employer's arguments regarding jurisdiction, medical causation, and offset claims from a concurrent Texas workers' compensation proceeding.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award denying all workers' compensation benefits in a claim for heat exhaustion allegedly sustained on June 4, 2011. The Commission found that while the injury was occupational in nature and properly reported, it did not arise out of and in the course of employment, and therefore no compensation was awarded.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding Second Injury Fund liability, disagreeing that statutory requirements for occupational hearing loss claims apply to determining preexisting hearing loss in Second Injury Fund calculations. The Commission found that the employee's significant hearing deficits since childhood constitute preexisting disability relevant to calculating the synergistic effect with his primary injury for Second Injury Fund liability purposes.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding Second Injury Fund liability in a case involving an employee's compensable occupational disease injury of bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and bilateral trigger fingers arising from work activities. The employee was awarded permanent partial disability benefits for right wrist (15%) and left wrist (5%), with the Commission affirming the ALJ's findings that the employee failed to prove permanent total disability despite preexisting conditions.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding medical causation and Second Injury Fund liability for an employee struck in the head by a basketball thrown by an inmate. While affirming that no primary psychiatric injury was caused by the accident, the Commission found a causal connection between the work injury and subsequent deterioration in the employee's preexisting psychiatric condition.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Keith Jackson for a low back injury sustained while moving a steel channel beam on November 21, 2012. The award includes 30 weeks of permanent partial disability compensation from the employer and permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund.

The Missouri Court of Appeals reversed the administrative law judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits, holding that the employee's injuries from a 20-25 foot fall from a railcar arose out of and in the course of employment. The LIRC awarded permanent partial disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund based on a prior settlement valuing the injuries at approximately 15% of the upper right extremity and 13% of the body as a whole for cervical and thoracic spine injuries.

The Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Kent Buerk for neck and back injuries sustained on February 13, 2009, while carrying a 65-pound windshield across a muddy surface at work. The employee was awarded permanent total disability compensation along with unpaid medical expenses and temporary total disability benefits.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to employee Judy West for injuries sustained in a fall at work on January 31, 2014. The decision clarifies that the employee's injuries were sustained both "arising out of" and "in the course of" her employment as a home care worker, satisfying Missouri's workers' compensation requirements.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits for William Scott Johnston, who sustained a compensable back injury while pulling carpet on December 20, 2007. The Commission found the award supported by competent and substantial evidence and in accordance with Missouri Workers' Compensation Law, awarding permanent total disability benefits of $742.72 per week beginning October 31, 2012.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award granting workers' compensation benefits to Billy Styles for injuries sustained from an assault by a client on August 10, 2010. The employee was found to be permanently and totally disabled and awarded temporary total disability benefits, permanent total disability benefits, medical reimbursement, and future medical benefits.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of permanent total disability benefits to William Rose for a compensable work injury sustained on October 30, 2008, when he fell onto his left knee. The claimant is entitled to lifetime permanent total disability benefits beginning March 18, 2014, with compensation payable by the employer and insurer.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Carla Fowler for an alleged heat exhaustion injury sustained on June 27, 2009, while working in a perimeter tower. The award of no compensation was supported by competent and substantial evidence and made in accordance with Missouri Workers' Compensation Law.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying workers' compensation benefits to Donna M. Blyzes for alleged psychological stress and asthma caused by cigar smoke exposure. The award found no compensable injury or occupational disease under Missouri law, resulting in no benefits awarded.

The Commission reversed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits for an alleged occupational disease or accident injury to the employee's knees on September 9, 2009. The Commission found insufficient evidence that the employee suffered a compensable work-related injury on the date of injury alleged.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award denying compensation for an occupational disease claim, finding that the employee failed to meet her burden of proof regarding medical causation. The court held that work must be a substantial factor in causing the medical condition, not merely a triggering or precipitating factor.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award in a workers' compensation case involving a February 2, 2010 work injury. The case addressed medical causation, permanent disability, medical benefits liability, and Second Injury Fund involvement for employee Enisa Comic.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Pamela S. Chesser for a July 28, 2008 injury when a pallet fell and struck her neck and right leg. The claimant was found to have permanent and total disability resulting from the compensable workplace accident.

The Missouri LIRC reversed an ALJ's award of permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund for a 51-year-old employee with a September 7, 2011 work injury. The employee had pre-existing bilateral shoulder surgeries (2002) from previous employment-related injuries that limited her ability to perform repetitive hand and arm work.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation to Martha Riggins for injuries sustained from a fall at work on March 16, 2011. The Court determined that the employee's variable shift work schedule and sleep deprivation created an increased risk of injury, establishing that the accident arose out of and in the course of employment despite the employee's inability to identify the specific cause of her fall.