Workers' Compensation Blog | St. Joseph Injury Lawyer

1

Apr 2020

Coronavirus' Long-Term Impact on Workers’ Compensation

As states like Missouri scramble to adapt their workers’ compensation schemes to the coronavirus spread, some of the weaknesses at the heart of the system are becoming more and more apparent. Chief among them is the power of insurance companies to simply raise their rates, indirectly shifting the costs of current coverage to tomorrow’s workers. States Struggle to Adapt Workers’ Compensation to a ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

18

Mar 2020

Will Workers’ Compensation Cover Healthcare Workers Infected with Coronavirus?

As the coronavirus, or COVID-19, continues to spread through Missouri and St. Joseph, healthcare workers are getting exposed to the disease on a regular basis. It is only a matter of time before they start getting sick. Thankfully, Missouri law seems to indicate that healthcare workers who get infected with coronavirus should be covered by workers’ compensation . Missouri’s Occupational Disease ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

4

Mar 2020

Missouri Supreme Court Hears Workers’ Compensation Cases

The Supreme Court of Missouri recently heard oral arguments for two important workers’ compensation cases. Both of those cases seem poised to continue to restrict the rights of injured workers by limiting the concept of a workplace injury . This would make it increasingly more difficult for injured workers in Missouri to get the compensation they deserve. Supreme Court of Missouri Hears Two ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

19

Feb 2020

Missouri Workers’ Compensation Case Lacks Dependents

A Kansas City man who was severely hurt in a workplace accident at a UPS facility on February 10 has died from his injuries. UPS has stressed, repeatedly, that the man was a contractor and not an employee. The difference matters for the workers’ compensation benefits, though even if there are survivor benefits available, the victim’s lack of dependents to collect it can complicate matters. Worker ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

5

Feb 2020

2 Cops Accused of Workers’ Compensation Fraud

A husband and wife who had retired from working as police officers have been accused of workers’ compensation fraud for faking injuries and collecting benefits. Married Couple Accused of Workers’ Compensation Fraud The situation unfolded in Santa Clara, California. A husband and wife – both of whom worked as police officers in the area – had both retired from the force after suffering injuries. ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

22

Jan 2020

Workplace Death Leads to Products Liability Lawsuit

The family of a St. Joseph man who was killed in a tragic workplace accident have filed a lawsuit against the company who made the machine that killed him. The lawsuit is an example of an important hole in the rule that victims who receive workers’ compensation cannot sue for other damages. Workplace Accident Leaves One Dead at St. Joseph Lumber Mill Back on March 12, 2018, a St. Joseph man ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

8

Jan 2020

The 4 Types of Injuries in Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation law is full of complicated terms and phrases. Understanding the law, though, requires a thorough comprehension of these words and what they mean. Four of the most common phrases that get used to describe someone’s workplace injury are: Permanent total disability, or PTD, Permanent partial disability, or PPD, Temporary total disability, or TTD, and Temporary partial ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

18

Dec 2019

Jail Time Counters Worker’s Unemployable Claim

A workers’ compensation case made it all the way to the Missouri Court of Appeals. Once there, though, the court made an interesting statement about how hurt workers can prove that they are “unemployable” because of a disabling injury. At the very least, the court’s decision highlights the importance of vocational experts. At most, though, the repercussions could have disturbing consequences. ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

11

Dec 2019

When Can Workers’ Compensation Claims Recover the Costs of the Case?

A workers’ compensation case in Missouri clarifies when one side can be made to pay the court costs and attorney’s fees of the other side. According to the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission, only what happens during the claim for workers’ compensation matters – not anything that happened before the case was filed. Judge Makes Employer Pay Attorney Fees and Court Costs The case, Stratton v. ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

4

Dec 2019

Why Workers’ Compensation Judges’ Beliefs Are Difficult to Appeal

In a recent workers’ compensation blog post, we discussed how administrative law judges weigh the credibility of testifying doctors . In short, it is very easy for these judges to see what they want to see. What an administrative judge wants to see typically aligns with their pro-business or pro-worker political stance, which in turn mirrors the stance of whoever appointed them to their position ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

13

Nov 2019

The Problem With How Administrative Law Judges Determine Credibility

An otherwise innocuous workers’ compensation case highlights one of the ways that the legal system is stilted against injured workers in Missouri. Whenever there are conflicting medical opinions about how a worker got hurt – and there usually are – administrative law judges have to decide which doctor is more credible. Those credibility findings are extremely difficult to overturn on appeal, and ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

30

Oct 2019

Workers’ Compensation Cases and the Rule of Necessity

A recent workers’ compensation case made it to the Missouri Court of Appeals. In the case, Nivens v. Interstate Brands Corp. , an injured worker applied to the Second Injury Fund for compensation after workplace injuries coupled with older medical conditions to make him unable to function on the job. The case is a rare one that revolves around the Rule of Necessity, which allows even conflicted ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

16

Oct 2019

OSHA Continues to Give Workplace Safety Powers to Employers

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is said to be investigating a fatal workplace accident in St. Joseph. The role of OSHA in that investigation, though, has been shrinking to dangerously narrow proportions in recent years, as the agency pushes more and more responsibility onto employers. When employers investigate fatal accidents at their plants, the losers are the employees. ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

2

Oct 2019

Missouri Workers’ Compensation, Frolics, and Detours

One of the most important limitations about workers’ compensation coverage is that it only applies to injuries you suffer on the job . In our last workers’ compensation post, we wondered whether a postal worker was still “on the job” when their mail truck was hit by a school bus . It was 5pm, and many jobs have set hours, so if the mail carrier was working past shutdown, they could have a tough ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

18

Sep 2019

Workers’ Compensation Questions After Mail Truck Hits School Bus

A crash between a school bus and a mail truck in Kansas City raises some important questions about workers’ compensation law in Missouri. School Bus and Mail Truck Collide in Missouri The crash happened around 5pm on Tuesday, September 17, 2019. According to police, the mail truck and a school bus hit each other at the intersection of Delmar Lane and 103 rd Street , just over the border in Kansas. ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

4

Sep 2019

Workers’ Compensation Claim Leads to Firing in St. Joseph

A former worker at Mosaic Life Care is suing the St. Joseph hospital for firing her. She claims that her discharge was done in retaliation for reporting a workplace injury . As we have discussed in earlier blog posts, she will have an uphill battle under a workers’ compensation law that has been stilted in favor of her employer. St. Joseph Hospital Worker Claims She Was Fired for Reporting an ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

21

Aug 2019

Workers’ Compensation Denied Because Accident Happened While Walking

In our last workers’ compensation post, we covered a disturbing case where a decision by the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission was overturned on appeal for a rare credibility problem . The Commission’s denial of workers’ coverage was disturbing because of how blatantly it disregarded testimony by the injured worker. But that was not the only disturbing part of the Commission’s decision. ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

7

Aug 2019

Workers’ Compensation Case Overturned on Appeal for Rare Credibility Problem

An appeals court in Missouri overturned a workers’ compensation decision that denied coverage for a high school teacher’s injuries. The reasons why the workers’ compensation was originally denied, though, raises some serious questions about how these cases are being decided in Missouri. High School Teacher Falls, Gets Hurt, and Is Denied Workers’ Compensation On January 8, 2013, an ESL teacher ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

24

Jul 2019

Do Employers Have to Pay for Second Injury Fund Injuries, Now?

The dust is beginning to settle from the fallout of the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision in the workers’ compensation case, Cosby v. Treasurer of Missouri . Perhaps the most interesting possibility is that the Supreme Court has made employers liable for injuries that would have been covered by Missouri’s Second Injury Fund . Missouri Supreme Court Strictly Construes Workers’ Compensation Laws ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

10

Jul 2019

Workers’ Compensation and Separation of Powers

A workers’ compensation case from Florida is being appealed to the state’s supreme court. While the case comes from Florida, its claims could impact the process of Missouri’s workers’ compensation laws because of similarities in our workers’ compensation systems. Failed Shoulder Surgery Leads to Numerous Medical Opinions The victim was an elementary school worker who partially tore her rotator ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

12

Jun 2019

Shifts in Politics and Workers’ Compensation Law

Each state has its own laws and regulations that deal with workers’ compensation . Some states tilt the law more towards hurt workers, while others favor business interests, like in Missouri. As the political atmosphere changes, workers’ compensation laws tend to follow. The state of Maine is going through just such a change, now. Amendments to the state’s workers’ compensation structure are ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

29

May 2019

Workers’ Compensation Trial After Bulldozing Death

A trial in California is going to settle some important questions about workers’ compensation in the state. Workers’ Compensation Trial Over Death of Firefighter On trial is Ian Czirban , the owner of Czirban Concrete Construction. His company contracted with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to provide firefighting services during the Big Sur Fire back in 2016. ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

15

May 2019

What is the Workers’ Compensation Trade-Off?

We frequently refer to workers’ compensation in Missouri as a “trade-off” involving employers and employees. But what gets traded, and why? What Employees Give Up for Workers’ Compensation The biggest thing that employees give up is their ability to sue their employers in court with a personal injury lawsuit . In many workplace injury situations, the employer contributed to the injury at least in ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

1

May 2019

Workers Hurt in Rural Areas More Likely to Be Prescribed Opioids

A study investigating workers’ compensation in Missouri found that injured workers in rural areas were more likely to be prescribed opioids than urban workers. The discrepancy is not insignificant, though there are numerous factors that could be in play. Study Investigates Opioid Prescriptions After Workplace Injuries The study was conducted by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute . It ...

Posted By Smith Law Office

17

Apr 2019

2 Filing Deadlines for Workers’ Compensation Claims

In many ways, workers’ compensation claims are even more complex than typical personal injury claims. While the workers’ compensation scheme is designed to streamline the process of recovering compensation, it often involves more paperwork. Worse, that paperwork comes from both you and your employer, and goes to both your employer and the Missouri Department of Labor . Even the deadlines can be ...

Posted By Smith Law Office