Illinois Case Law Update

Tuesday, July 28, 2015 | 0

NEW! Dibble v. Quinn, 14-2328, and Akemann v. Quinn, 14-2746, (07/20/2015): The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that two ousted arbitrators for the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission did not have a constitutionally protected property interest in their positions when Public Act 97-18 took effect to shorten their terms in office.

NEW! West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. v. Procaccio Painting & Drywall Co., 13-2252, (07/10/2015): A federal appellate court upheld an award of damages against a workers' compensation insurance carrier for its unauthorized manipulation of the formula it used to calculate an employer's annual premium for this coverage.

NEW! Reichling v. Touchette Regional Hospital, 12-L-588, (07/16/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that a nurse employed by a temporary staffing service company could not proceed with her premises liability claim against the hospital where she had been sent to work, since she was a "borrowed employee" of the hospital.

NEW! Bemis v. Employers Mutual Casualty Co., 5-13-0402, (07/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court is standing by its decision earlier this year to decertify a class of providers who had sued the Employers Mutual Casualty Co. for allegedly taking improper discounts from their medical bills.

NEW! Pekin Insurance Co. v. Campbell, 4-14-0955, (06/07/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that an employer was not entitled to relief from a default judgment that allowed its insurance carrier to rescind its comp coverage.

NEW! Estate of Burns v. Consolidation Coal Co., 5-14-0503, (06/30/2015): An employer could not avoid having judgment entered against it for payment of the full amount of workers' compensation benefits due to the estate of a dead coal miner despite the fact that it was allegedly due a credit because of its payment of benefits to the estate under the Black Lung Benefits Act, the Illinois Appellate Court ruled.

Sunrise Assisted Living v. Banach, 11-MR-1348, (06/26/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that the pendency of a worker's petition to modify an award of benefits does not deprive a trial judge of jurisdiction to enter a judgment for payment of that award.

DiBenedetto v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 1-13-3233WC, (06/26/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that the maximum amount of wage-differential benefits a worker can receive is based upon the statewide average weekly wage for the year that the worker was injured.

Majid v. The Retirement Board of the Policemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of the City of Chicago, 1-13-2182, (05/22/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court upheld the constitutionality of a Pension Code provision which requires injured police officers to forfeit their entitlement to disability pension benefits if they are convicted of a felony.

West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. v. DJW-Ridgeway Building Consultants, 13-MR-93, (05/19/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that the insurance carrier for a subcontractor on a construction project had a duty to defend the general contractor from a negligence suit by the injured employee of another subcontractor.