Missouri Workers Compensation Laws may allow an injured employee to recover compensation for prior workplace related injuries through the Second Injury Fund.
The Second Injury Fund was created by the State of Missouri as veterans were returning home from the Second World War. The purpose of the Fund is to encourage employers to hire individuals who have pre-existing disabilities. If your recent work injury caused a permanent disability that combines with a pre-existing disability that prevent you from returning to any work, then the employer should pay for the injury they caused with a permanent partial disability settlement. The Second Injury Fund will be responsible for paying that permanent total disability payment to you for the rest of your life. The Second Injury Fund will pay an injured employee if he or she has any lost wages from a second job where the employee was not injured but was nevertheless unable to work at during a particular period of time.
The Fund may also be obligated to make a payment to you if you have a disability that existed prior to your work injury, and if that preexisting disability and the work injury meet a certain threshold. If you have been injured on the job and you had a prior work injury or disability prior to the recent work injury, then please call the attorneys at Northland Injury Law at 816-400-4878 for a free consultation.
