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Workers Compensation Defense

IL Comp Update: Failure to authorize care CANNOT result in the assessment of penalties

ILLINOIS WORKERS COMP UPDATE Both Arbitrators and the Illinois Workers Comp Commission have increased the assessment of penalties and attorneys’ fees against Employers and Insurance Carriers. However, the Court of Appeals has again ruled that penalties CANNOT be assessed against an Employer/Carrier for failure to authorize care. In February, the Illinois Court of Appeals ( Read More

MO Comp Update – Commission awards PTD plus $400k for unpaid benefits after Employer’s improper denial of the claim

MO Comp Update The Missouri Industrial Commission’s award in Marc Meng v. SystemAire, Inc. (click HERE for the decision) is a perfect example of what used to be called “Murphy’s Law”: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Claimant alleges injury by occupational disease from repetitive overhead work as a sheet metal worker resulting Read More

MO Court of Appeals reverses pro-business award from the Industrial Commission

Missouri Workers Compensation Legal Update Last year I informed you about an important defense award from the Industrial Commission in Shoen v. Mid Missouri. The Court of Appeals reversed that decision on September 3, 2019.  Read the entire decision HERE. FACTS Claimant inhaled bug spray and needed to see Dr. Runde about her breathing problems. Read More

MO Comp Update: Court of Appeals – Injuries that occur before work can still be compensable

MO Workers Compensation Update The Court of Appeals reversed a defense award by the Industrial Commission in the attached case of Annayeva v. The Special Administrative Board for the St. Louis School District, decided on July 30, 2019. Here, claimant slipped and fell in walking into the school BEFORE actually starting her workday.  She was Read More

MO Comp Update: Supreme Court Decides Cosby v. SIF – Dangers ahead for Employers/Insurers

MO Comp Update The Missouri Supreme Court handed down their decision in Cosby v. SIF on Tuesday, June 25 (read the entire decision HERE). The main issue was whether the elimination of Second Injury Fund liability (in the vast majority of cases) in 2014 was constitutional. The MO Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Industrial Read More

Can a claimant restrict the Employer’s ability to speak to the treating physician?

WORKERS COMP UPDATE – MISSOURI AND ILLINOIS Can a claimant restrict the Employer’s ability to speak to the treating physician or obtain information from the treating physician? Short Answer:  In Missouri – No.  In Illinois – Yes. MISSOURI Recently, claimants’ attorneys have been sending me directives stating that the Employer’s Nurse Case Manager is prohibited Read More

MO Comp Update: Alarming Trend – Plaintiff Bar Now Alleging Employers are Responsible for PTD From PRIOR Injuries

MO Workers Comp Update Over the past few weeks I have spoken to multiple plaintiff attorneys who are in the process of amending all Missouri Claims for Compensation with a date of injury AFTER January 1, 2014. Why? The MO Supreme Court should be handing down a decision soon in the case of Cosby v. Read More

MO Workers Comp Update – Commission Awards PTD for Psychological overlay from physical injury

MO Workers Comp Update The Missouri Industrial Commission awarded Permanent Total Disability (PTD) benefits in the recent case of Deborah Tedder v. Missouri Department of Corrections (April 11, 2019) (Read the decision HERE). Claimant slipped and fell, with injuries at the left elbow (post-surgical) and a fracture of the left knee (post-surgical). What apparently made Read More

IL Comp Update – Pathway to Challenge Wage Differential Awards

ILLINOIS WORKERS COMPENSATION UPDATE The Illinois Court of Appeals reversed a wage differential award from the Commission last month in the  Beverage v. IWCC  (Click HERE to read the decision).    In doing so, the Court of Appeals laid out a pathway for challenging wage differential claims. Based on this decision, as well as many other Read More

Court orders workers comp board to consider paying for medical marijuana

WORKERS COMP LEGAL UPDATE As you can see from this article (click HERE), the New Hampshire Supreme Court overruled that state’s Industrial Commission when that Commission refused to order a carrier to pay for medical marijuana. “Because the board found that (claimant’s) use of medical marijuana is reasonable, medically necessary, and causally related to his Read More