The Missouri House and Senate have both passed a scaled-back version of a workers’ compensation reform bill. The measure would bar employees from suing each other over workplace injuries and illnesses, but it leaves occupational disease claims within the court system and does not address the state’s ailing Second Injury Fund.
Republican House Member Dave Schatz sponsored a different workers’ comp bill that addresses the fund and would move occupational disease claims to the workers’ comp system. He hopes it will pass, too.
“We can’t continue to let these things go unchecked, because they’re a ticking time bomb that at some point are going to come up and blow up in our face if we don’t address them, so the Second Injury Fund is out there and it’s not going to go away until we come up with a fix,” Schatz said.
The scaled-back workers’ compensation bill is now on its way to Governor Jay Nixon. He recently told reporters that he agrees with lawmakers that co-workers should not be allowed to sue each other over workplace injuries and illnesses.
