Temporary Total Disability benefits may be extended for Missouri workers thanks to a new ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court. In Greer v. Sysco Foods, the Missouri Supreme Court broadened protections for Missouri workers. In a 7-0 decision, authored by Judge George W. Draper III, the Court affirmed a decision by the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission to allow employees to receive workers’ compensation benefits years after certain injury claims are already settled.

Carl Greer was involved in a forklift accident about nine years ago. Mr. Greer was standing on a stationary forklift inside a freezer at the SYSCO warehouse, trying to scan an inventory pallet. The scanner gun did not function properly and Mr. Greer leaned forward to get the scanner closer to the inventory pallet. The lean caused his left leg to extend outside the running lines of the forklift, where it was crushed by another forklift as it passed by. Mr. Greer suffered foot and ankle injuries. Mr. Greer received temporary total disability (TTD) benefits through his workers’ compensation claim.

When Mr. Greer reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), his TTD payments stopped. A settlement of the workers compensation claim was reached. Ultimately, Mr. Greer was unable to perform his duties upon returning to work at SYSCO and voluntarily resigned.

Three years later, Mr. Greer pursued additional medical care and petitioned to amend the original workers compensation award. The Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations Commission awarded Mr. Greer additional TTD payments.

On appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court noted that the TTD statute did not use the term MMI and that the proper test was the language of the statute and not the judicial construct of MMI. The court noted it was not abolishing the concept of MMI, but that inb Mr. Greer’s case, it did not find the Commission’s finding of MMI inconsistent with an award. The Court held that:

“It is plausible, and likely probable, that the maximum medical improvement date and the end of the rehabilitative process will coincide, thus, marking the end of the period when TTD benefits can be awarded.”

“However, when the commission is presented with evidence, as here, that a claimant has reached maximum medical improvement yet seeks additional treatment beyond that date for the work-related injury in an attempt to restore himself or herself to a condition of health or normal activity by a process of medical rehabilitation, the commission must make a factual determination as to whether the additional treatment was part of the rehabilitative process.

“[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][T]his Court holds the commission is not required to accept maximum medical improvement as a bright-line date to terminate TTD benefits when there is substantial and competent evidence presented that a claimant continues to be engaged in the rehabilitative process beyond a date initially believed to be the end of the rehabilitative process. Cases that hold to contrary should no longer be followed.”

Daniel P. Mehan, president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, decried the decision of the Supreme Court and promised legislative action in the coming session.

“This ruling should send shivers down the spines of Missouri employers,” Mehan said in a statement. “Temporary disability payments are capped at 400 weeks for extreme cases and the Supreme Court has given a roadmap for claimants and trial attorneys to maximize those awards – even after a worker has recovered the best he or she can. Businesses have long worked through the state’s existing system to ensure a fair resolution is reached. The Greer v. Sysco Food Services case could make that resolution a thing of the past and fundamentally alter the concept of temporary disability. We will urge the Missouri Legislature to clarify the law to keep temporary disability payments as they should be – temporary.”

While the Greer ruling arguably tips the balance of workers’ compensation cases slightly in favor of workers with regard to temporary total disability payments, Missouri workers have seen their workers’ compensation benefits systemically stripped as a result of lobbying from Missouri businesses and the Chamber. In the last ten years, the Missouri workers compensation statute has been amended to:

1. Strictly limit the type of injuries covered;
2. Change the standard of when an injury is work related;
3. Reduce benefits by 25 to 50 percent if the injury resulted from failure to follow company safety rules;
4. Increase the burden of proof for permanent and total disability; and,
5. Limit compensation from the Second Injury Fund.

If you have been injured at work, please contact us to discuss your workers compensation claim. You can also call us at (573)686-2459. We are here for you when you need us.

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]