Court ruling could alter workers comp cases

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Workers seeking compensation for repetitive motion injuries could be limited in filing claims against previous employers because of a state Supreme Court ruling, government officials said Thursday.

State law says that workers compensation claims for repetitive motion ailments can be directed at a previous employer if a person has been with a new employer for less than three months.

A decision by the state Labor and Industrial Relations Commission on a claim by Norman Endicott Jr. used the dates his ailments were diagnosed to apply liability to one of Endicott's previous employers.

But the Supreme Court overturned the decision Tuesday, applying the last-place-of-employment rule to the time a claim is filed, not the time of a medical diagnosis.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said the decision set an important precedent for repetitive motion injury claims.