Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

It may seem a bit out of the ordinary to Missouri residents to hear that a workers’ compensation board in Indiana is requiring an employer to cover an employee’s weight loss surgery. However, there are elements to the story that support such a decision. According to a usatoday.com report, the employee, who is a cook, suffered a painful back injury after being hit by a freezer door during a shift. The board concluded that the 380-pound employee’s back surgery would prove ineffective unless he underwent a weight loss procedure first.

Although it is true that the employer was overweight before he injured his back while at work, he gained more weight as a result of the injury. In addition to covering the cost of the back operation, the man’s employer will now have to pay for a lap-band weight reduction surgery that could cost $20,000 to $25,000. Needless to say, this case has raised alarm among businesses that may face such costly claims in the future. The decision also brings up the question of whether or not employers will resist hiring workers with health conditions that could potentially cost their companies a lot of money if a work accident happens to take place.

Employers are responsible for the safety and well-being of employees and are expected to create and maintain a safe working environment to help prevent injury or harm from plaguing workers at any time. When employers fail to uphold the responsibility of properly training employees or neglect to properly check the condition of working environments, serious consequences can result from work-related injuries.