Dean L. Christianson

The Missouri LIRC affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Robert L. Treadway for a work-related injury sustained on May 8, 2008, while also approving the attorney's fee as fair and reasonable. The case involved analysis of Second Injury Fund liability in relation to the employee's preexisting disabilities.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award regarding a low back injury, finding that the employee's preexisting low back condition from 1999 lumbar fusion surgery should have been factored into the permanent partial disability analysis. The Commission awarded permanent partial disability benefits for the work-related low back injury and addressed Second Injury Fund liability related to the combination of preexisting and primary injuries.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Rick Powell for a left knee injury sustained on April 21, 2003, when he slipped on a screed machine at work. The award includes permanent partial disability compensation, permanent total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund, and future medical treatment for the total knee replacement.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Orville Caupp for a low back injury sustained on October 21, 2004, while lifting and moving boxes at American Airlines. The employee was awarded 20% permanent partial disability with 16 weeks of compensation payable from the Second Injury Fund totaling $5,664.80.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Michael Webb for a slip and fall injury on ice while attaching a trailer on March 14, 1997. Webb was awarded 60% permanent partial disability to the abdominal area with ongoing compensation and Second Injury Fund liability.

The Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Nathan Hempel, an electrician who suffered a closed head injury when he struck his head on an overhead steel beam while installing conduit on January 3, 2007. Benefits awarded include temporary disability compensation, permanent partial disability at 15% of body as a whole, and necessary medical expenses.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award to expand future medical care beyond medications to include all necessary treatment to cure and relieve the employee from the effects of her occupational disease. The employee sustained a repetitive strain injury to both hands and wrists resulting in permanent partial disability with disability ratings and disfigurement compensation approved.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to James Andrews for a work-related injury sustained on March 11, 2004, when he fell into a fish pond while fighting a fire. The employee was awarded 12-1/2% permanent partial disability compensation totaling $29,221.61, with the employer and Second Injury Fund sharing liability.

The Commission modified the administrative law judge's award by finding the employee reached maximum medical improvement on December 21, 2004 (rather than December 27, 2004), making him eligible for permanent total disability benefits beginning December 22, 2004. The employee receives permanent total disability benefits at $570.27 weekly for his lifetime as a result of his December 24, 2002 work injury.

The Commission modified the Administrative Law Judge's award by increasing the preexisting disability rating of the employee's left ankle from 35% to 75% at the 155-week level based on multiple prior injuries requiring surgeries. This modification increased the Second Injury Fund's liability for permanent partial disability benefits from $7,318.21 to $9,515.09.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to Martin Lampe for injuries sustained in a fall from a ladder on September 22, 2003. The employee was awarded permanent total disability benefits of $500.02 per week for life, along with unpaid medical expenses of $2,958.00.

The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation to Christopher King for a burn injury to his right ankle/foot caused by hot grease splashing during cooking on November 30, 2004. The employee was awarded $870.64 in compensation for 5% permanent partial disability of the right ankle.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Bob D. Burnett for a work-related injury sustained on March 15, 2002, in St. Charles County, Missouri. One commissioner dissented, arguing the award should be modified to include compensation for a disc injury that the majority found lacked sufficient causal connection to the workplace accident.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission modified the administrative law judge's award regarding permanent disability benefits for a June 28, 2002 neck injury (Injury No. 02-102986). The Commission addressed the Second Injury Fund's appeal regarding the timing and calculation of permanent partial disability versus permanent total disability payments.

The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's award allowing workers' compensation benefits to Cheryl Jennings for a workplace injury on September 16, 1997. The Commission agreed that a previously ordered medical procedure was not causally related to the injury and therefore medical expenses and disability stemming from that procedure were not compensable.