Employees Can Sue Employers in Civil Court for Occupational Disease Claims: Missouri Appeals Court

Missouri’s Western District Court of Appeals recently decided that an employee can sue his employer in civil court for an “occupational disease” claim. The case, KCP & L Greater Missouri Operations Co. v. Cook, involved Monroe Gunter’s claim for damages stemming from a work-related injury. He claimed that he contracted mesothelioma as a result of having been exposed to asbestos during his employment with KCP&L. The court ruled that Gunter was allowed to file suit in civil court because, under Missouri law, the workers’ compensation forum is not the exclusive forum for a claim premised on an “occupational disease,” such as mesothelioma. (Note the distinction between an “occupational disease,” which develops over a period of time, versus an injury that happens instantaneously or acutely as a result of a single accident.)

This is a major change from prior law. Historically, the exclusive remedy for an employee with any employment-related injury – whether acute or gradual in onset – was to pursue a claim in the workers’ compensation forum. This is a system that clearly benefits employers (as well as third-party workers’ compensation insurers).

There are two types of employers in the workers’ compensation context: those who carry insurance policies issued by third-party insurance companies, and those who self-insure – that is, who create and pay into their own private workers’ compensation insurance policies. In every work-injury case, there are three benefits to which an injured employee is presumptively entitled: medical costs, lost wages, and permanent disability.

Two Scenarios

Consider the difference between the likely cost of a workers’ compensation claim versus the possible cost of a civil lawsuit with regard to: (1) a Missouri business with a workers’ compensation insurance policy issued by a third-party insurance carrier; and (2) a Missouri business that self-insures.

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