Missouri Workers Compensation Lawyer Blog

The Greene County workers' compensation attorneys know that certain factors can complicate workers' comp claims. That's why it's so important to have a lawyer advising you throughout the process. Consider a recent case:

The claimant, Jeffrey Graham, worked as a tractor trailer driver for TSL, Ltd., hauling automobiles. Graham's application for workers' compensation benefits alleged that he fell and injured his right foot while unloading a Jeep in New Jersey on January 25, 2008.

The situation would seem pretty black and white. However, the nature of Graham's hiring became an important element of the case. Here's a bit of background:

Graham, a Kentucky resident, was hired "over the phone": he learned TSL was hiring truck drivers, and phoned the company's Missouri office seeking employment. At TSL's request, he faxed his commercial driver's license, a copy of his personnel file from his previous employer, and the results of a recent physical, including a drug test, to Jim Gage at TSL's Missouri office. Gage apparently reviewed the information while the two men were on the phone and told Graham that he could "start tomorrow." Graham considered himself hired at that point.

So Graham traveled from Kentucky to TSL's office in St. Peters, Missouri. He completed TSL's mandatory driving test and training program, and submitted to another drug test. TSL then provided the tractor trailer, and Graham got to work.

After his injury occurred, Graham applied for workers' compensation benefits in Kentucky, where he lives and where he applied for and received the job. But TSL denied the claim, insisting Kentucky lacked extraterritorial jurisdiction under KRS 342.670 because the employment was not principally localized in any state, and Graham's contract for hire was made in not in Kentucky, but in Missouri.

Continue reading "Where Do You Apply for Workers' Comp Benefits if Your Employment is Not Localized to Any Particular State?" »

Recently, Springfield workers' compensation lawyers got their first look at the workplace fatality statistics for 2010, when OSHA issued the Bureau of Labor Statistics' National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. This preliminary report showed that workplace fatalities in 2010 hardly decreased at all from 2009, and in some categories they rose substantially.

Some of the report's findings include:

• 4,547 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2010, barely different from the final count of 4,551 fatal work injuries in 2009.
• Fatal injuries among wage and salary workers increased by 2 percent in 2010, whereas fatal work injuries among the self-employed declined 6 percent.
• Fatal mining industry work injuries went from 99 in 2009 to 172 in 2010. This 74 percent increase included the multiple fatalities caused by the disasters at the Upper Big Branch Mine and the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.
• The private construction sector showed a 10 percent decline in fatal injuries in 2010 and an impressive (almost) 40% decline since 2006.
• The number of fatal workplace injuries among police officers increased by 40 percent, from 96 in 2009 to 134 in 2010.
• Work-related fatalities caused by fires more than doubled from 53 in 2009 to 109 in 2010. This was the highest number of fatalities recorded in this category since 2003.

(Click here to read the Bureau of Labor Statistics' National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in its entirety.)

Continue reading "OSHA Reports 2010 Workplace Fatality Totals Similar to Last Year" »

Springfield, Missouri workers' compensation lawyers recently noticed an article in Bloomberg Business Week about misclassified workers in Connecticut. According to the report, labor officials issued stop work orders to 19 construction companies working at six different sites in Westport. These companies had all misclassified their workers as independent contractors to avoid having to pay workers compensation insurance, unemployment taxes, and social security.

These 19 companies face fines of $300 per day, for each day they do not carry workers' compensation coverage as required by Connecticut law. It is the job of the division of wage and workplace standards to investigate complaints of this sort from workers and unions. Apparently they have had to issue 103 stop work orders in the past six months, and have already collected $81,000 in fines from non-compliant construction firms.

This is not just a Connecticut problem but has been in the news nationwide. Not identifying an employee's status correctly is termed "Misclassification of Workers." Although common in many different fields, it is particularly prevalent in the construction industry. It is also particularly damaging in the construction industry because of the high risk of serious accidents and injuries that should fall under the workers' compensation system.

The problem for misclassified employees is that they may not be rightly covered by standard safety regulations and may not be enrolled in worker's compensation programs that they should be eligible for.

Read what the IRS has to say about employee classification.

Continue reading "Misclassification of Employees a Growing Problem in Missouri and Nationwide: Can These Workers Collect Workers' Compensation?" »

As Kansas City workers' compensation attorneys, we have previously reported on the Missouri Chamber of Commerce's efforts to encourage workers' compensation reform. As we draw near the end of 2011, that reform continues to be a top priority for the Chamber: they are currently preparing to lobby for a variety of workforce issues when the state legislature begins its 2012 session on January 4, and Missouri's failing Second Injury Fund is one of the first items on their agenda.

The Second Injury Fund was created to provide benefits to Missouri workers who are reinjured in the workplace. It offers supplemental insurance to Missouri businesses, giving them an incentive to employ workers with pre-existing injuries or disabilities. If such an employee is reinjured on the job, the supplemental insurance--in theory--covers the injury, and the business is not liable. The fund is also supposed to pay benefits to injured Missouri workers when their employers did not obtain workers' comp insurance.

Unfortunately, things haven't quite worked out that way. At present, the Second Injury Fund is all but bankrupt. In 2009, the Missouri Attorney General's office stopped settling all cases against the fund, leaving more than 30,000 cases pending. And the number of pending cases continues to grow: about 700 more are filed each month. Even excluding these claims, the fund currently owes an estimated $1 billion for claims that have already been awarded to Missouri workers by judges. Back in March, the Second Injury Fund stopped paying out benefits to reinjured workers who had been awarded permanent total disability benefits. Of late, it has also stopping paying claims to workers with uninsured employers.

According to Richard Moore, assistant general counsel and director of regulatory affairs for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, 170 people will not receive benefits owed to them by the Second Injury Fund by the end of 2011--and these benefits total about $13 million. What's more, the state of Missouri is required to pay an extra 9% interest on those late payments.

Continue reading "Continued Second Injury Fund Issues Affecting Missouri Workers' Compensation Claims, Chamber of Commerce Argues" »

As workers' compensation lawyers in Springfield MO, we have become aware that sometimes people do not receive benefits they are entitled to under Missouri's laws because they are not aware that they are eligible for those benefits. We want to discuss the importance of listing your next of kin or who to contact in case of emergency in your employment personnel records.

According to Missouri workers' compensation laws, if a family member dies in a work related accident, the employer/insurer must pay as much as five thousand dollars for burial costs. Added to that, the surviving spouse or other dependents are eligible for two thirds of the victim's wages for a specific period of time.

When the Division of Workers' Compensation is informed of any worker's death; the process is set into motion. They will notify the family of the deceased about their rights to compensation under the law. However, they will only notify the surviving family if they are told by the employer that there are indeed eligible dependents. Employers are required by law to keep records for every employee. You have probably noticed that anytime you start a job, there is always the question of who to contact in case of emergency.

However, the Division of Workers' Compensation has reported that many Springfield MO and other MO employers are not keeping such records. When discovered, some of these negligent employers have been referred to the state attorney general's office, because not complying with this law is considered workers' compensation fraud.

Continue reading "Who Is Eligible for Missouri Workers' Compensation Survivor Benefits?" »

What is the relationship between a pre-existing condition such as obesity and an injured workers' right to obtain full compensation for his work-related injury? This is a question that has started to come up more frequently for Springfield, MO Workers Compensation lawyers. The reason: obesity has reached epidemic proportions here in Springfield MO and throughout the rest of the nation. Being obese can seriously complicate or hinder the medical treatment a worker needs to recover after an injury. It can also cause an employer to claim that the obesity was the cause of the injury, and try to dispute a rightful claim.

Two recent reports outline the issues. The first, done in 2010 by Duke University, found a significant link between obesity and the cost of workers compensation. Obese employees were found to file double the number of workers' compensation claims as average weight employees. They also reported a whopping seven times higher medical costs from those claims, as well as 13 times more missed days of work.

There are various problems for injured, obese workers. They are more likely to have pre-existing health conditions that exacerbate their injuries, such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. Any of these can significantly impact the treatment of a workers compensation claim, causing costs to skyrocket. If an injured worker suffers from any of these diseases, his recovery from a work injury or illness will likely be much slower and more complicated.

A recent Gallup poll sheds even more light on this situation, with the startling statistic that overweight or obese workers miss 450 million more work days annually than their normal-weight, healthy counterparts.

Releasing the results of their poll, Gallup commented, "The high percentages of full-time U.S. workers who have less-than-ideal health are a significant drain on productivity for U.S. businesses. However, employees and employers have the opportunity to potentially increase productivity if they address the health issues that are currently plaguing the workplace."

Continue reading "Obesity a "Big" Issue in Springfield Missouri Workers' Compensation Claims" »

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was once associated strictly with veterans of wars, but now it has become an accepted diagnosis for mental health issues caused by all sorts of different situations. It is unusual for an employee to develop PTSD working at an ordinary job here in Springfield MO, but Springfield workers compensation lawyers know it certainly can happen.

Here's an (admittedly unusual and extreme) example of a workers' comp case in British Columbia in which an employee was "forced" to perform an activity so heinous and stressful that he developed this mental illness. The claimant worked for a B.C. tour company, Outdoor Adventures Whistler, which used sled dogs. After the company experienced a significant downturn to their business, it decided to kill some of the sled dogs to reduce costs.

This unfortunate incident was revealed when the employee who committed the dog killings filed a claim with WorkSafeBC, for post-traumatic stress disorder. He stated that he developed the condition after personally killing over 100 dogs. According to his testimony the dogs did not die immediately and he was forced to witness many horrible incidents.

WorkSafeBC approved the employee's claim for workers' compensation benefits. (And after hearing of the case, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals commenced a thorough investigation.)

Continue reading "Can Springfield Missouri Workers Receive Workers' Compensation for PTSD?" »

Springfield MO workers' compensation lawyers have been following a disputed workers' comp case in PA that went all the way up to the state Supreme Court. It involved a death benefits claim by the widow of a firefighter who died of Hepatitis C. We know that although Hepatitis C (HCV) kills about 10,000 people each year in this country, it is not always easy to prove that it was contracted on the job.

Receiving workers' compensation benefits for any of the complications that arise from Hepatitis C can be difficult: many workers are at a serious disadvantage. This potentially deadly virus can simmer undetected for ten to thirty years, making it challenging--if not impossible--to establish the cause of the illness. Medical workers--like doctors, nurses, police, and firefighters--are all at higher risk of contracting this disease than the general public, because of the rescue work and medical assistance they provide in the course of their jobs.

In the Pennsylvania case, the high court ruled that Patricia Kriebel, widow of Philadelphia firefighter Joseph Kriebel, can receive death benefits under the state's workers compensation law. Because of the dangerous nature of firefighting, the amount of help rendered to injured people and the resulting exposure to possibly infected blood, Hepatitis C is presumed by Pennsylvania to be an occupational illness for firefighters and other first responders.

In her claim for death benefits, the widow argued that Mr. Kriebel, who died in 2004, contracted hepatitis while working for the Philadelphia Fire Department from 1974 to 2003. Ms. Kriebel said her husband was regularly exposed to blood while performing one of his duties as a firefighter--assisting emergency victims. She believed that her husband contracted hepatitis from his involvement in those situations.

Continue reading "Proving Hepatitis C as an Occupational Illness Difficult in Springfield, Missouri Workers' Compensation Cases" »

A Springfield MO worker receives a back injury on the job, and goes on Missouri workers' compensation. His injury is not serious, but extremely painful, with excruciating muscle spasms. His doctor prescribes an opioid painkiller, and the worker is able to get immediate relief while he is at home, healing from his injury. Sounds good so far, doesn't it?

But an increasing problem doctors have been seeing here in Missouri and across the country is that the worker becomes addicted to the painkilling drug, using higher and higher amounts--sometimes even dying from an overdose.

It is this exact situation that has led to various states implementing medical guidelines that limit the amount of opioids that can be prescribed to workers' compensation claimants.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) opioids are basically prescription narcotics, such as morphine (Kadian, Avinza), codeine, oxycodone (OxyContin, Percodan, Percocet), and others. They say that when taken as directed, opioids are a safe method of pain relief. However, long-term use of opioids has been repeatedly shown to physical dependence and addiction. Taking a large single dose of an opioid has proven fatal.

Continue reading "Opioid Addiction is a Dangerous Issue for Workers' Comp Claimants in Springfield, Missouri and Nationwide" »