Western District Won't Review Temporary Award to Worker Who Tested Positive for Pot

The Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday declined to weigh in on whether a worker’s positive drug test forfeited his entitlement to benefits for a severe brain injury after a fall from a scaffold. Following the legislature’s 2005 mandate that the courts should apply strict construction to the workers’ compensation statutes, the court said it had no authority to review temporary awards issued by the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission. The court said that doesn’t mean it can never address whether Joseph Franklin should receive benefits for his injuries; ...