Blog Posts in April, 2021

Workers’ Compensation and Idiopathic Causes

A Missouri appellate court has, once again, narrowly read the state’s workers’ compensation law to reduce the amounts that have to be paid by businesses after a workplace injury . In this case, the issue concerned idiopathic diseases, or those that do not have an identifiable cause. Obese Worker Dies from Heatstroke The case is Halsey v. Townsend Tree Service Co. , and involves the tragic case of ...

Seatbelt Investors Opened Patent to Save Lives

One of the most important safety features on any motor vehicle is the seatbelt, which has drastically cut down the severity of car accidents . However, the inventor of the modern seatbelt made very little money off of it – instead of profiting, they opened their patent for others to use. Volvo Engineers Responsible for Modern Seatbelt Design All the way through the 1950s, seatbelts were not ...

Workers’ Compensation Retaliation and Sovereign Immunity

A recent case by the Missouri Court of Appeals emphasized the role that sovereign immunity plays in the state’s workers’ compensation law. Worker Claims Termination Was Retaliation for Filing Workers’ Compensation Claim The case involved a worker at the University of Missouri, the state’s public college. After several months of complaints from her subordinates, the worker’s supervisors decided to ...

What Are Mansfield Bars and Are They Safe?

A serious car accident in Kansas City involving a tractor trailer shows why we need to continue to enforce safety regulations on the roadways, including requiring that trucks have Mansfield Bars. Car Rear-Ends Tractor Trailer The crash happened on the evening of April 5, 2021. The truck accident is still under investigation, so little is known about exactly what happened. However, it is clear that ...