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According to the Associated Press, Mark Lindquist was hurt while trying to protect residents of a group home during the May 22 twister. Lindquist was in a coma for nearly two months, broke every rib, lost most of his teeth and suffered other injuries. He sought workers' compensation, but his employer's workers' compensation provider, Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America, denied the claim.
However, on Monday, only a day after the AP first reported the story, the insurer announced that it was changing course: "upon further review", it would now accept the claim.
Whether the review was of the legal issues, or the public relations debacle the insurer was facing may never be known. The AP story prompted interest from people, organizations and media nationwide. The Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys offered lawyers to work on Lindquist's behalf at no charge. Lindquist's employer had asked the insurance firm to reconsider. Both houses of the Missouri Legislature passed resolutions honoring Lindquist for his efforts to save the group home residents, the Senate resolution calling him "a true hero and inspiration to others."
Although other Joplin tornado claims may not ultimately be compensable (the Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation is reporting that 132 workers' compensation claims have been filed after the tornado, with eight, so far,denied by insurance companies), Lindquist's clearly seemed to fall in the category of those cases that industry representatives surely thought would be excluded when pushed amendments to The Workers' Compensation Law through the Missouri legislature in 2005 requiring strict, rather than liberal construction of The Law. As an activity that was necessary to Lindquist's job, courts have ruled recently that strict construction of The Law mandates coverage of such claims. |
