Filtered Decisions

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award denying compensation to Timothy McDaniel from the Second Injury Fund. The employee's application for review was found deficient under procedural rules as it failed to specifically state reasons why the judge's findings were unsupported.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of temporary compensation to employee Danny Sanders for a back injury sustained during a mandatory physical evaluation program required by his employer as a condition of returning to work. The Commission held that the injury arose out of and in the course of employment under the statutory test, rejecting the employer's argument that the employee was not "on the clock" at the time of injury.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding a low back strain injury sustained by Robert G. Wright, Jr. on July 6, 2010, while employed by TG Missouri Corporation. The Commission reversed several determinations regarding medical causation, past medical expenses, future medical care, temporary total disability, and the nature and extent of permanent disability.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's denial of workers' compensation benefits, finding that while the employee suffered an accident when he died at work, the claimant failed to prove that work was the prevailing factor in causing his death. The medical expert's theory lacked sufficient factual foundation regarding the specific physical exertions the employee was performing at the time of his fatal cardiovascular event.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to a housekeeper injured when attacked by a German shepherd dog while opening a guest room. The claimant was awarded permanent disability benefits for left shoulder (15%), left breast (7.5%), and psychiatric injury (10%) with a weekly compensation rate of $215.00.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of permanent total disability benefits for Troy Schroer, who suffered a head injury after slipping and hitting his head on a manhole rim while climbing out during employment. Schroer is entitled to permanent total disability benefits of $470.13 weekly from January 21, 2010, ongoing for his lifetime, plus future medical benefits.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for an employee who fell from a ladder on February 23, 2006, sustaining injuries to his right ankle and a psychiatric condition. The award includes permanent partial disability compensation and permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits for an employee who injured his right knee stepping from a van onto a ramp during employment on March 1, 2003. The award includes permanent partial disability compensation and lifetime benefits from the Second Injury Fund.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation to Stephen Barkley for a work-related injury. The Commission rejected the Second Injury Fund's evidentiary challenges and found the award was supported by competent and substantial evidence in accordance with Missouri Workers' Compensation Law.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing compensation for employee Bobby Mock's work injuries and entitlement to future medical treatment. However, the Commission clarified that the employer retains the statutory right to direct future medical treatment under Missouri law, rejecting the ALJ's finding that failure to authorize prior treatment constituted a waiver of this right.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's denial of permanent total disability benefits, finding that the employee failed to establish medical causation between the work-related injury and his preexisting back and neck condition. The court rejected the employee's allegations of error, noting that his arguments were incomprehensible and based on factual misrepresentations about the medical testimony presented.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding temporary total disability benefits for an employee who sustained neck and right shoulder injuries in an October 4, 2002 workplace accident. The employee was found to have permanent total disability coupled with depressive symptoms and is entitled to future medical care, with the Commission supplementing the analysis on medical causation standards.