Phil Tatlow obtained a favorable ruling for Mark Lynch for Permanent Total Disability benefits going all the way back to 2009 and to continue the rest of his life. Mark was disabled due to a combination of his work related carpal tunnel syndrome, his ringing of the ears and preexisting conditions to his back, neck, hips and shoulders. He had sugeries to his wrists and shoulders and hips over the years and attributed all of his problems to repetitive work at Anheuser Busch pushing and pulling beachwood chips into torpedos and into a cooker tank in the brewery, along with other manual tasks over his 35 years of employment. When he could not longer perform the job he quit and filed for Social Security Disability benefits which were awarded. He also filed a claim against Anheuser Busch and the Second Injury Fund for worker's compensation benefits. Eventually AB settled the claim for their portion of the case. The Second Injury Fund case proceeded to trial where Judge Teer ruled against Mr. Lynch. Phil Tatlow appealed the denial and the Labor Commission affirmed the denial. Mr. Lynch, via Phil Tatlow and Thomas Mihalczo appealed again and argued the the Judge and Labor Commision improperly substitued their own personal opinion and ignored the uncontradicted medical evidence and fact evidence showing Mr. Lynch was disabled due to his work injury and prior conditions.
In Mark Lynch v. Treasurer of State of Missouri, ED109502 (Mo Ct App, October 19, 2021), the Missouri Court of Appeals reversed the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission and ruled that "Here the Commission arbitrarily ignored the substantial, uncontradicted, and unimpeached evidence, including the only qualified expert medical opinion in the record, without explanation or a reasonable basis for finding the witnesses not credible." The court instructed the Labor Commission to enter judgment for Mr. Lynch for weekly benefits since he became disabled to the present. These benefits will go all the way back to 2009 and the benefits are awarded for life. It is expected the the overall award will be in excess of $350,000 for past due benefits and could be an additional $400,000 to $500,000 benefits in the future.
This is the second Anheuser Busch case that Phil Tatlow recently tried against the Second Injury Fund where Anheuser Busch settled their portion of the case and the SIF was hit with permanent total disability benefits. In the first case, the ALJ awarded benefits and the SIF paid the claim and did not appeal.
Phil Tatlow and Thomas Mihalczo were on the briefs and Phil Tatlow argued the case in the Court of Appeals.
