ST. LOUIS –– A tree trimming company avoided a federal lawsuit brought by the parents of a worker who died of heat stroke.
In the Aug. 21 order, Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri granted summary judgment to the Townsend Tree Service.
The parents of Tyler Halsey brought a lawsuit against the company in 2016. According to court documents, Halsey was working his fourth day on a road project for Townsend Tree when he collapsed. The days heat index was 115 degrees.
Townsend Tree paid his funeral and medical expenses of approximately $23,000, while reserving its right to challenge liability under the state workers' compensation laws, which it was later allowed to pursue.
The plaintiffs attempted to avoid exclusivity provisions of workers' compensation law by claiming their son had an "idiopathic susceptibility to heat exhaustion."
That exclusion is an exception to the statute's provision and would allow them to sue.
The plaintiffs argued their son's obesity caused him to die from heat stroke. Court documents show three doctors determined Halsey was obese with a body mass index of 41.35.
But in order to receive that exception, the judge ruled, the parents would need to go in front of the Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations Commission. If they approved Halsey's obesity as a "idiopathic" condition, the parents could re-file the lawsuit.