St. Peters, MO, (Law Firm Newswire) February 20, 2015 – A
Missouri Court of Appeals has affirmed the decision of a lower court to
award workers’ compensation benefits to Dorothy Smith, a widow who lost
her husband to hepatitis C.
Smith’s husband, Stephen Smith, worked in a medical laboratory for
more than 30 years, beginning in 1969. There, he could have been exposed
to the disease before protective equipment and procedures became common
in the 1990s.
“In this case, the employer tried to argue that Ms. Smith should not
get benefits because she could not definitively prove that the workplace
was the source of her husband’s infection,” remarked Charlie James, a
Missouri workers’ compensation attorney not involved with the case.
“But the court ruled that Ms. Smith did not have to provide absolute
proof. Ms. Smith only needed to show that it was probable that her
husband’s workplace was the source of the infection.”
Read more... Labels: disability & insurance benefits, workers compensation, workplace