Labor and Industrial Relations Commission upholds a Covid denial of compensability

In what may be the first Covid claim on appeal in Missouri, the Commission affirmed a denial of a Covid exposure claim.   Per the attached decision, Claimant argued that since other people at work had Covid, then he must have contracted Covid at work because he refrained from going out in public during the Covid emergency other than going to work.

The Best Lawyers® in America 2025 edition features 7 Harris Dowell Fisher & Young attorneys, with 1 named “Lawyer of the Year,” 5 named Best Lawyers, and 2 Ones to Watch. Congratulations to these lawyers on the well-deserved recognition!

Back in 2017, the Supreme Court of Missouri issued a blockbuster opinion in Mantia v. Missouri Department of Transportation, 529 S.W.3d 804 (Mo banc. 2017). In that case, claimant’s job involved investigating fatal motor vehicle accidents, which also involved viewing dead and mutilated bodies in conjunction with her job duties. Because of viewing mutilated bodies on a regular basis, claimant filed a Mental-Mental psych claim against her employer, the MO Department of Transportation.