Law Commons^™

Resurrection Of A Dead Remedy: Bringing Common Law Negligence Back Into Employment Law, Amanda Yoder

Missouri Law Review

Prior to the enactment of workers' compensation laws' across the United States and in Missouri, many employees injured on the job were left with no redress. In 1921, less than 3,000 of the nearly 50,000 employees injured in Missouri received compensation.2 During this time, an estimated 25,000 employees died on the job in industrial accidents but less than twenty percent of their families received compensation.3 Those families that were compen- sated still had to bear the cost and delay of litigation.4 In response, legislatures sought to protect employees from the risks of the workplace and transfer the burden of recovery …