Does Being Partially at Fault Bar You From Missouri Workers’ Compensation Benefits?

In a personal injury situation at work, it’s common to wonder if you’ll have issues if you were partially at fault. Partial fault workers’ compensation is a thing: in Missouri, you’re not barred from getting benefits just because you contributed to an accident, except under very limited circumstances.

Missouri and Partial Fault Workers’ Compensation

Missouri’s workers’ compensation system is a no-fault program. The only thing that matters is whether your injury arose out of and in the course of your employment. It doesn’t matter who was to blame. You do not need to prove your employer was negligent, and your own partial contribution to the incident generally will not prevent you from receiving medical care, wage replacement, or other benefits.

Because of this no-fault design, your percentage of fault in causing the accident usually does not reduce or eliminate your benefits, and the courts and the Division of Workers’ Compensation will just be concerned to evaluate whether the injury meets the “arising out of and in the course of employment” test. 

Specific Exceptions

There are some specific, and narrow, exceptions to this rule:

Intentional

If you intentionally injure yourself, benefits are barred completely. However, it is your employer’s responsibility to prove you did it on purpose: you don’t have to prove you didn’t. 

Failure of Safety Rules

If you fail to use your employer-provided safety devices or ignore reasonable safety rules you knew about and were trained on, your compensation is reduced by at least 25%, but not more than 50%. But again, it’s on your employer to show that you’d been trained on the rules and had access to the safety gear.

Drugs and Alcohol

If your employer has rules against the use of drugs or alcohol, and you were using drugs or alcohol at the time of the injury, this can trigger a 50% reduction. You can even forfeit all of your benefits if it can be shown that taking the drugs or alcohol was the proximate cause of the accident. 

Personal Choice

If you choose to take part in a recreational activity and get hurt during that activity, even if your employer encouraged you to take part, you don’t get compensation. However, if you were required to take part, or if you were paid at all for your time while taking part, it counts as work and your benefits have to be paid. 

Third-Party Personal Injury Claim

If someone other than your employer or co-worker caused or contributed to your injury, like a delivery driver or a subcontractor, you may have a separate personal injury claim against that party in addition to your workers’ comp benefits. However, this is a normal personal injury claim, so comparative fault rules would apply. That means you can only collect from them in proportion to their degree of fault. 

Don’t let worries about blame keep you from filing for the workers’ comp you deserve. Contact us now for a free consultation at Spooner & Perkins, Attorneys at Law, to discuss your situation. We bring decades of dedicated experience representing injured workers in Missouri and Kansas.

Tags: workers compensation
Posted in Spooner & Perkins Attorneys at Law Service | No Comments »