A Missouri appellate court on Tuesday reversed a decision by the state’s Labor and Industrial Relations Commission that found a construction worker failed to establish he was entitled to receive benefits from the state’s Second Injury Fund.
The Court of Appeals of Missouri ruled the commission was wrong to deny Larry Obermann’s claim for benefits from the fund based on its finding that his permanent and total disablement was not solely due to a primary work injury he sustained in November 2017 in conjunction with certain preexisting disabilities from prior work injuries.
The claim stemmed from a shoulder injury Mr. Obermann sustained while working as a heavy equipment operator at a rock quarry for Base Rock Minerals in Cape Girardeau.
The commission said the only evidence in the case was that a non-qualifying knee injury Mr. Obermann suffered in 1995 contributed to his claim for permanent and total disability benefits from the Second Injury Fund, which would disqualify him from benefits.
In overturning the commission, the appeals court wrote that Mr. Obermann successfully demonstrated that he was left unemployable due to limitations from the shoulder injury and other preexisting conditions that developed out of prior work-related foot injuries.
The court wrote that evidence “directly refutes” the commission’s decision and that Mr. Obermann proved he had limited functional capacity rendering him unemployable.
The court remanded the case to the commission to enter an award in favor of Mr. Obermann.