Important Recent Illinois Case Law

Monday, January 17, 2011 | 0

Cox v. IWCC, 1-09-2500WC, (12/20/2010): A foreman is entitled to benefits from an auto accident while driving home because his employer had provided his truck for its benefit.

Menard v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 5-09-0354WC, (11/16/2010): An employment relationship did not exist when a terminated claimant slipped and hurt her back while returning from an independent medical examination, an Illinois appeals court ruled.

Help at Home v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 4-09-0977WC, (11/16/2010): A claimant's decision not to seek judicial review of the Workers' Compensation Commission's decision barred an arbitrator from considering more causation evidence on the issue, an Illinois appellate court ruled.

Laverty v. CSX Transportation Inc., 5-09-0043, (09/15/2010): The survivors of a railroad worker who died from mesothelioma after alleged exposure to asbestos while working mostly in Michigan should not have filed their lawsuit seeking wrongful death benefits in Illinois, the Appellate Court of Illinois ruled.

Oskroba v. Village of Hoffman Estates, 1-09-2634, (09/02/10): An ex-firefighter was not entitled to care coverage under the Employee Benefits Act because his work-related shoulder injury did not occur during an emergency.

Hill v. Potter, 09-2815, (08/30/2010): An employee of the U.S. Postal Service did not show she was discriminated against because she was unable to raise a triable issue of fact regarding the reason she was not hired.

Casanova v. American Airlines, 09-1020, (08/05/2010): A retaliatory termination suit in which a jury awarded $1 million should not have gone to trial because there was sufficient evidence to support the assertion of the employer that the claimant was discharged for cause.

Dodaro v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 1-09-0447WC, (08/03/2010): A statute requiring police officers of large cities in Illinois to pursue injury benefits through the Pension Code does not apply to police academy recruits, who are entitled to workers' compensation benefits, an appeals court ruled.

Boyd Electric v. Workers' Compensation Commission, 1-09-0766WC, (07/13/2010): An employer did not have the right to demand access to a permanently and totally disabled worker's tax records and other earnings information, an Illinois appellate court ruled.

Vallis Wyngroff Business Forms v. The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 1-09-0991WC, (06/15/2010): An Illinois statute prevented a workers' compensation carrier from securing an appellate bond on behalf of its insured, because the carrier failed to show that it was an agent of the insured employer.

Simpkins v. CSX Corp., 5-07-0346, (06/10/2010): An employer owes a duty to protect its employees' families from asbestos brought home on workers' clothes.