Bowen v. Smith

RAKER, Judge.

This is a workers’ compensation case. The issue presented in this appeal is whether the employer improperly terminated claimant’s temporary total disability benefits while he was incarcerated in a penal institution in this state. We shall reverse the summary judgment of the circuit court entered in favor of the employer and hold that under the Workers’ Compensation Act, an employer may not terminate or suspend temporary total disability benefits based solely on the incarceration of the worker.

I

On December 4, 1989, Roland H. Bowen, the claimant, sustained a compensable accidental…