The fund is in such dire financial condition that the state attorney general has stopped payments by the fund.

The state Chamber of Commerce looks to get involved “to give Missouri employers a voice in the outcome of this case,” says Daniel P. Mehan, chamber president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

The court could the state to pay damages in the lawsuit, increasing the burden on the state budget. Additionally, it could be concluded that the courts, not the Second Injury Fund, are the “best means of a remedy for the plaintiffs and others who may have similar claims, thereby putting unprecedented legal liability upon Missouri employers,” says the chamber.

While testifying before a state legislative committee in April, Richard Moore, director of regulatory affairs for the chamber, said the fund is bankrupt.

“There is no longer enough money coming in to the Second Injury Fund to pay the existing adjudicated obligations of the fund,” he says, adding that the fund in 2010 collected $41 million in revenues and paid out $40.8 million.

At the first quarter, liabilities outpaced what the fund collects, he adds.

The Second Injury Fund started in 1943 after World War II to encourage employers to hire disabled veterans. However, according to the Chamber of Commerce, “now virtually everyone who is injured has an attorney file a claim against the Second Injury Fund.” More than 28,000 pending cases have accumulated since 2009, the chamber says.

Legislation was introduced during the 2011 session which would have eliminated the fund, something about 30 other states have done. Every state had some sort of second injury fund in 1991 but today less than 20 do. The legislation did not succeed.