Jon Roel v Molle Toyota (SIF only)
Release Date: May 7, 2020 (Accident date April 19, 2016)
Venue: Kansas City, MO
Plot Summary: The majority of the Commission affirms a permanent total award against the second injury fund. Claimant alleges he hurt his back from repetitive trauma while unloading trucks for a missing employee.
Inj. No. 16-0284375
https://labor.mo.gov/sites/labor/files/decisions_wc/RoehlJon16-0284375-7-20.pdf
Cast:
Hefner, ALJ
Coppage
Shine
Poppa
Drieling
Koprivica
Clymer
Comments: Claimant, 51, sustained a back injury from repetitive lifting with limited treatment and a settlement of 15%, He was diagnosed with a strain and some disc bulging which an expert concluded flowed from the accident. He claims he requires psychotropic drugs and must lie down all the time.
The SIF denied claimant had a compensable injury based on a defense of medical records which identified a non-occupational cause and an expert, Dr. Koprivica, who stated he could not identify an etiology of a work injury due to history of a non-occupational event. Claimant contends his symptoms were already present when he apparently tripped over his dog's leash while walking the dog.
The ALJ, applying section 3, relies upon dictionary definitions of aggravation to make worse, make burdensome, make more troublesome or to cause, to develop or progress more quickly. The expert indicated the prior neuropathy and alcoholism satisfied the requirement. The ALJ commends claimant for current sobriety. The ALJ found Dr. Koprivica's distinction between temporary and permanent aggravations to not be persuasive or supported by the language of the statute to support a denial of fund benefits.
The dissent felt claimant failed to prove a compensable injury because of the contemporaneous history of tripping in his yard instead of an injury at work. The dissent felt a "one-line" conclusion from claimant's expert to support causation was not persuasive because it lacked any explanation, and that claimant's assertion that he had to lie down unpredictably during the day due to his back and use psychotropic medication due to his back rendered him totally disabled based on the last accident alone.
The majority noted it did not consider on the merits whether there was error to award benefits on multiple disabilities as a result of the Lexow case when the issue was not preserved. Michael Lexow v. Boeing Company and Treasurer of Missouri as
Custodian of/he Second Injury Fund, lnj. No. 16-029680 ( March 20, 2020).
