Workers’ Compensation Law

Claimant worked as a stationary engineer for hospital, and sustained injuries to neck, low back, and left knee in work-related accident and can no longer perform job duties of stationary engineer; undisputed that claimant is permanently and partially disabled.  Commission had duty to admit and factor all evidence as to nature of claimant's post-injury employment with employer, not simply compare her pre- and post-injury wages. Commission had duty to factor other evidence as to positions available to claimant in competitive job market based on her restrictions and job skills and determine whether her disability has resulted in impairment of earning capacity.  (HOLDRIDGE, HOFFMAN, HUDSON, and HARRIS, concurring.) 

(Court opinion corrected 12/21/15.) Legislature intended “employment”, for purpose of calculating claimant’s average weekly wage, to mean the particular job a claimant was engaged in at time of injury, rather than continuous period of employment with a single employer.(HOLDRIIDGE, HOFFMAN, HARRIS, and STEWART, concurring.)

Circuit court properly imposed section 19(k) penalties and Section 16 attorney's fees against employer for its deliberate refusal to pay TTD solely based on employee having reported work accident 6 days after accident rather than on date of accident, although Worker's Compensation Act allows employees 45 days to report an accident. Employer's policy to not pay TTD benefits if accident is not reported on day it occurs is unreasonable, given Act's allowance of 45 days to report and also given that many injuries do not manifest themselves until later. (HOLDRIDGE, HOFFMAN, HUDSON, and HARRIS, concurring.)

(Court opinion corrected 12/11/15.) Police officer injured his back while loading his duty bag (weighing about 40 pounds) into his personal vehicle in preparation for reporting to police stations for work. Commission properly found that claimant sustained accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment, and properly found that claimant established causal relationship between accident and back condition requiring surgery. Testimony in record establishes that duty bag contained items necessary for performance of job duties, and that as part of his job duties he was responsible for safekeeping of his duty bag, and keeping duty bag at home was acceptable to employer.  Thus, irrelevant that injury occurred while lifting it into his car at home. Commission was within its prerogative to find that accident aggravated or accelerated officer's preexisting back condition and was a causative factor resulting in his back surgery.(HOLDRIDGE and HOFFMAN, concurring; HUDSON and HARRIS, dissenting.)

Employee tripped and fell while taking trash to a dumpster, landing on his left hand and arm, and sustaining left wrist fracture. Arbitrator found that claimant sustained 5% loss of use of his left hand as a result of accident; Commission affirmed decision, and circuit court confirmed Commission's decision awarding permanent partial disability benefits. Commission is not required to automatically adopt treating orthopedist's reported level of zero impairment merely because parties submitted only one subsection (a) report. Commission properly weighed that report along with other factors listed in Section 8.1b(b). Evidence was sufficient to support Commission's findings as to each factor. (HOLDRIDGE, HOFFMAN, HUDSON, and HARRIS, concurring.)

Exclusive remedy provisions of Workers' Compensation Act and Workers' Occupational Diseases Act bars an employee's action when the employee's injury or disease first manifests after the expiration of certain time limitations under those acts. Section 6(c) of Workers' Occupational Diseases Act acts as a statute of repose, and creates an absolute bar on right to bring a claim.(GARMAN, KARMEIER, and BURKE, concurring; FREEMAN and KILBRIDE, dissenting.)

Employee, who worked as a mechanical assembler basic, filed worker's compensation claim for injuries to his lumbar spine while lifting and pulling equipment at work. Eleven months later, claimant filed second claim alleging injury to his "back man as a whole" resulting from lifting, bending, and pulling at work on date eleven days after date of injury alleged in first claim. Workers' Compensation Commission affirmed and adopted arbitrator's decision that in first case, claimant had established accident occurred on that date, arose out of and in course of his employment, and his current condition of ill-being in low back was causally related to work accident. Commission's determination of compensable work-related injury was not against manifest weight of evidence.Remanded for determination of propriety of including overtime hours in calculation of claimant's wage. (HOLDRIDGE, HOFFMAN, HUDSON, and STEWART, concurring.)

Claimant employee injured knee while working as a welder. Workers' Compensation Commission reversed arbitrator and found that claimant failed to prove he sustained workplace accident that arose out of his employment. Claimant established entitlement to benefits under neutral risk principles. Commission should not award benefits for injuries caused by everyday activities, even if employee was ordered to perform them as part of his job duties, unless employee's job required him to perform those activities more frequently than members of general public or in manner that increased risk. This is a "neutral risk" analysis. (HOFFMAN and HUDSON, concurring; STEWART, specially concurring.)

Court properly company's claim alleging fraud and seeking to recover workers' compensation benefits paid to its employee. Plaintiff had previously filed motion for determination of fraud which was heard and denied by a Workers' Compensation Commission arbitrator. Arbitrator properly exercised Commission's jurisdiction in ruling on fraud claims as they involved factual issues directly related to determination of employee's workers' compensation benefits. Thus, trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear Plaintiff company's claims. (SCHMIDT, specially concurring; McDADE, dissenting.)