Employers maintain Workers’ Compensation Insurance to cover their employees who have been hurt while working on the job. This insurance pays benefits to employees who are unable to work because of their injuries as well as paying medical bills and other expenses until you recover.

The changes to the law that went into effect in 2005 benefit the employers not the workers. The biggest changes were made in the definition of “accident” and what constitutes permanent partial disability. Other changes involve giving your employer notice that you were hurt on the job, safety rules, and drugs and alcohol. These changes are designed to limit the access of the injured worker to Workers’ Compensation benefits.

If you get hurt on the job, you need to contact a lawyer. An experienced Workers’ Compensation lawyer will provide the legal advice to help you get the benefits in which you are entitled. It is important to contact your lawyer immediately, usually within 30 days of your injury. Contact an experienced Workers’ Compensation lawyer to assist you in receiving all of the benefits in which you are entitled.

Feel free to contact Ted Pashos of the Niedner Law Firm if you should have any questions about this area.

Report It Immediately

If you get hurt on the job in Missouri, you need to report it to your employer or supervisor and tell them exactly what happened. This triggers a duty upon your employer supervisor to arrange medical treatment and to file documentation with the Division of Workers’ Compensation. If you do not report the injury to your employer, you jeopardize your right to receive workers’ compensation benefits.

Your Benefits

Under Missouri law there are three types of benefits that you receive. The employer must provide and pay for all medical care necessary to treat your injury. All the costs of this medical care are paid by your employer or their workers’ compensation insurer.

The second benefit that you obtain is payment for lost wages. The maximum for lost wages that you can receive for any injury occurring after July 1, 2009 is $807.48 per week.

The last benefit that you may receive is compensation for permanent disability. This is based upon Missouri law which provides that the amount of the payment that is made corresponds with the amount of disability that you have incurred. Under Missouri law, the maximum weekly benefit for permanent disability for injuries occurring on or after July 1, 2009 is $422.97 per week. Your payment depends on the number of weeks of disability associated with your injury. Workers who are totally disabled or killed on the job are eligible for benefits as well as the deceased worker’s survivors.

All workers’ compensation claims in Missouri must be filed within two years of the accident or within two years of the date that the last benefit was paid. There are exceptions which may extend this statute of limitations, but those exceptions are limited.

If you are hurt on the job, make sure you report it to your supervisor immediately. If you have questions about workers’ compensation law in St. Charles County, Lincoln County, Franklin County or St. Louis County Missouri, please contact Ted Pashos of Niedner, Bodeux, Carmichael, Huff, Lenox and Pashos. Mr. Pashos handles these types of cases and can get answers to any questions you have.

Photo Attribution

Corporate Director Responsibilities

Members of the corporation’s board of directors manage the corporation principally through their power to appoint corporate officers. Normally, the board of directors decides what corporate stock will be issued, what responsibilities will be carried out by particular corporate officers and how those officers will be compensated, what action will be taken regarding fixed corporate assets such as real estate, and whether loans will be made or accepted by the corporation.

Directors take action through meetings of the board. Such meetings normally must occur at least annually although meetings without the physical presence of directors may be authorized by corporate bylaws.

Directors owe a duty of loyalty to the corporation. They are not agents of shareholders. So long as they exercise good faith business judgment, they are not duty-bound to accede to the wishes of majority shareholders. However, shareholders are entitled to remove directors even without cause in most jurisdictions and shareholders are entitled to accept or reject board of director actions that would cause fundamental changes in the corporation such as a merger or a significant disposition of corporate assets.

Corporate Officer Responsibilities

Corporate officer responsibilities are set by statute and by the board of directors appointing the officer and delegating duties to the officer. Generally, corporate officers are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the corporation within statutory parameters for corporate conduct. Corporate officers (and employees) are agents of their corporation and thus owe a duty of loyalty to the corporation.

Titles and duties of corporate officers usually are found in the corporate bylaws. Typically, officers of a corporation include a president or chief operating officer, a treasurer or chief financial officer to handle finances, and a secretary responsible for corporate records.

Under most state corporation statutes, for-profit corporations are allowed wide latitude in stating the corporation’s overall goals and business mission. Thus, plaintiffs alleging that a director has breached the duty of obedience by committing an ultra vires act have a heavy burden of proof. However, certain federal laws and statutes do impose significant limitations on a fiduciary’s authority to act (for example, a bankruptcy trustee has limited authority to act pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code). Even if an ultra vires act is alleged, a director in a jurisdiction that recognizes the business judgment rule may not be held personally liable for ultra vires acts of corporate agents unless the ultra vires act was illegal or the director participated in, knew, or should have known of the ultra vires act.

Claims for breach of the duty of obedience proliferated in litigation stemming from the savings and loan scandals in the late Twentieth Century. Many states have now enacted laws that allow corporations and shareholders to ratify ultra vires acts of directors, particularly self-interested transactions. These laws have seemingly reduced the claims for breach of the duty of obedience. However, claims for breach of this fiduciary duty still frequently arise in the non-profit business organization context. Many of the claims allege that the board of directors has failed to carry out the original mission of the non-profit organization. Some courts require strict adherence to the stated mission and business goals. For example, a California court concluded that directors of a nonprofit organization that was chartered to operate a hospital violated the duty of obedience when they used corporate funds to operate medical clinics. Some courts take a more liberal and flexible approach. These courts impose liability for breach of the duty of obedience only when the directors have “substantially departed” from the organization’s stated mission.

For example, A and B form a general partnership for the purpose of establishing a chain of tanning salons. A and B buy a company car with partnership funds. While driving to a partnership meeting in the company car, B runs into a pedestrian. The pedestrian files a personal injury action against both A and B. If the pedestrian establishes that the accident was a result of B’s negligence, then both A and B will be liable for the pedestrian’s injuries because the accident occurred within the scope and course of the affairs of the partnership. Therefore, the pedestrian may recover damages from either A or B, or both of them.

Privacy is the general right to be left alone and free from unwanted publicity. There are four well-established lawsuits for invasion of privacy: appropriation, false light, intrusion, and disclosure. This article gives examples of appropriation lawsuits. Appropriation is defined as the use of a person’s name, likeness, or personality for the benefit of another. Defenses include that the matter is public or that the person who’s privacy was invaded gave consent.

Flake v. Greensboro News Co.

In this case, the first defendant mistakenly put a photograph of the plaintiff in her bathing suit in the second defendant’s advertisement. The court declared that “the unauthorized use of one’s photograph in connection with an advertisement or other commercial enterprise gives rise to a cause of action.” The court ruled that the plaintiff could recover nominal damages if she could not prove actual damages.

Hinish v. Meier & Frank Co.

In this case, the defendant used the plaintiff’s name in a telegram to a governor urging the governor to veto a bill. The use of the plaintiff’s name was in a matter of politics, not a commercial situation, but that did not stop the court from ruling that the defendant had wrongfully appropriated the plaintiff’s name.

“Selleck v. Rolling Rock”

Based on changes made in advertisements for Rolling Rock beer, an invasion of privacy lawsuit may have been threatened by actor Tom Selleck, star of the television series “Magnum, P.I.” Apparently knowing that a celebrity may sue a brewery advertiser for using the celebrity’s voice in a radio advertisement for beer, the advertisers of Rolling Rock apparently hired Joe Garvey to narrate Rolling Rock advertisements. Interestingly, Joe Garvey’s voice was very similar to Tom Selleck’s voice. Again, based on changes made in the advertisements, Tom Selleck apparently reached an agreement with the advertisers of Rolling Rock that Joe Garvey would clearly identify himself in each advertisement for Rolling Rock beer.