What are Punitive Damages in Missouri?

In personal injury cases that involve extremely bad misconduct, punitive damages may be available. When compared to other states, though, Missouri law drastically limits when they can be awarded and how much can be received. What are Punitive Damages? Punitive damages, also known as exemplary damages, are a type of financial compensation that can be awarded in a personal injury case . They go ...

Employers Can Now Retaliate Against Former Employees for Reporting Work Injuries

The foreseeable effects of “strictly construing” Missouri’s workers’ compensation laws continue to unfold. Just last week, the Supreme Court of Missouri ruled that employers could legally discriminate against former employees who filed for workers’ compensation or reported a workplace injury. The pertinent statutes were not crystal clear that such retaliation was unlawful, so the Supreme Court ...

How Does Negligence Per Se Work?

Negligence per se is a way of proving fault in a personal injury claim . If someone was violating a law when they hurt you, like if they were breaking a traffic law and caused a car accident , that violation can be used to prove that they were being negligent. This can establish liability and make them pay for your losses. Unlawful Conduct Amounts to Per Se Negligence Every state has a long list ...

LIRC Member Ignores Subjectivity of Workplace Injuries

In our last blog post on workers’ compensation law in Missouri, we looked at how it took an appeals court to say that injuries do not have to be instantaneous to be compensable through workers’ comp. An underlying issue in that case is how injuries can be subjective: Activities that hurt one person may not hurt someone else. While this may seem obvious, at least one member of the Labor and ...