Ruling in LU case swings spotlight to state program

Last week, a state appeals court ruling said Lincoln University employee Kathy Narens should receive worker’s compensation benefits from the Jefferson City school.

“Lincoln University is under the umbrella of the State of Missouri’s workers compensation office CARO (Central Accident Reporting Office),” University Relations Director Misty Young said.

“The only role that Lincoln University had in this case was to assist in the initial claim paperwork by the employee to the CARO office, and to provide any evidence in (our) possession.”

Office of Administration spokeswoman Ryan Burns said Friday state law requires the state “as an employer … to pay workers’ compensation benefits,” and the state is self-insured for those payments.

Narens, an administrative assistant, broke her ankle as she was leaving her job in LU’s Dawson Hall Annex at the end of the day on April 11, 2012.

Lincoln University’s police made a report, and the information was turned over to the CARO office, Young said.

“Injuries are reported to CARO by each agency primarily through an electronic interface,” Burns said. “The system was developed to ensure prompt reporting and to expedite the processing of workers’ compensation benefits for eligible employees.

“The online system also enables the state to identify trends and exposures that may create safety concerns.”

She said CARO administers all workers’ compensation claims for state employees, except for those in the Transportation department (MoDOT), the Highway Patrol and the University of Missouri system.

“The mission of CARO is to provide injured workers (with) quality medical care, and to facilitate their return to work in the best and most cost-effective manner,” Burns said. “Benefits include medical care to cure and relieve effects of the injury, Temporary Total Disability (TTD) to compensate for lost wages and Permanent Partial or Total Disability to compensate for (any) permanent disability to the injured worker.”

The attorney general’s office represents the state government-as-employer’s interests.

“The attorney general’s office and CARO determine compensability of the claim and report all injuries to the Division of Workers’ Compensation within the Missouri Department of Labor,” Burns said.

When an employee is hurt, agencies and/or the injured worker are instructed to contact a toll-free number, so they can receive a referral to medical providers that specialize in occupational injuries and workers’ compensation.

“Coordination of care is continued through collaboration with CARO and the treating physicians,” Burns explained. “After the employee has reached maximum medical improvement, the injured worker may receive a settlement approved by the Division of Workers’ Compensation through a process that includes the claimant, their attorney (if they choose to have one), the attorney general’s office and CARO.”

But state law also defines when employers are, and are not, responsible for covering an employee’s injury.

In the Narens case, the state, acting in Lincoln’s name — but not Lincoln itself — challenged giving her an award, arguing the accident occurred after work, so that it wasn’t work-related, and that LU had not created the risk that caused her to fall in the first place.

Young told the News Tribune: “Lincoln University was neutral in its position of (whether) the claim would be approved or denied.”

The Administrative Hearing Commission sided with Narens, and the state appealed the case to the Western District appeals court in Kansas City — which last Tuesday also sided with Narens.

The case went through the system in Narens’ and Lincoln’s names — and nothing in last week’s appeals court ruling indicated the Central Accident Reporting Office’s involvement.