Barnes v Treasurer of the State of MO.
ED 105508
Oct 31, 2017
The Court of Appeals affirms an award of SIF total and rejects arguments that claimant must prove a case by a single expert, that the decision was erroneous because of admission of a hearsay report and the decision was not supported by the evidence or against the overwhelming weigh of the evidence.
Claimant alleges he hurt his back changing a tire in 2009. Claimant was identified with two disc abnormalities and underwent a single level fusion that resulted in permanent work restrictions. Before the accident he had previous surgery at the same level, settled the earlier case for 25% and asserted he had no further problems.
The ALJ awarded PTD against the employer alone and excluded a hearsay report. The Commission modified the PTD award against the fund, admitted a hearsay report, but concluded it was not persuasive because it was hearsay.
The court noted that a single expert did not have to testify to causation and to disability and that the Commission could consider multiple opinions of different specialists to form its opinion. The Commission could rely upon the defense expert that the last accident alone caused only permanent partial disability and rely upon the plaintiff experts that claimant was totally disabled and not adopt their position that the last accident alone caused total disability.
The SIF offered no evidence that the Commission relied upon the hearsay report for its conclusions. It did not address whether the admission was error but essentially concludes any admission would have been harmless error since the SIF failed to show prejudice. The Commission indicates the report was hearsay within hearsay. The record does not address why the Commission elected to reverse the ALJ and allow a report with no value to be admitted into evidence.
Hon Dowd
