Beard v Harley Davidson
2017 MOWCLR LEXIS 60 (Dec. 28, 2017)
The commission affirmed a temporary award for bilateral carpal tunnel for a woman employed 7 months and chastised the employer and its carrier Trumball Insurance for deplorable conduct in its defense.
The commission noted limits in statutory authority under 287.560 to sanction "methods and conduct" which it deemed deplorable in the context of a reasonable, but unsuccessful, defense. The defense relied upon a doctor who asserted claimant's condition was idiopathic.
The ALJ quoted the defense counsel in deposition stating: "bite me" and to "shut the hell up" and that the claimant "needed to understand plain English." The deposition inquires that counsel was "not doing okay" and "not controlling anger." The attorney responded: "Are you bleeding on the floor? I'm controlling my anger then."
The Commission finds "no place for name-calling and gratuitous comments of this nature in the profession of law."
The court discussed prior cases and notes the high burden to impose sanctions unless the refusal to provide benefits was egregious.
The ALJ had awarded costs and fees based on the unchallenged assertion of attorney's fees at $200 an hour.
ALJ Heffner
Iezzi (Boyd, Kenter for employee)
Experts: Rosenthal, Miller
