Illinois Case Law Update

Tuesday, December 2, 2014 | 0

NEW! The Levy Co. v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission et al., 1-13-1338WC, (11/14/2014): A trial court did not make a mistake in affirming the decision of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission to accept two settlements and leave a third claim open, even though all claims had been consolidated, the state's First District Appellate Court ruled.

NEW! Omron Electronics v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission et al., 1-13-0766WC, (11/14/2014): Two doctors testifying that a man likely contracted a fatal bacterium while in Brazil makes it reasonable for the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission to award death benefits based on the theory that a worker died from a bacterium contracted while traveling to Brazil for work, an appellate court ruled.

NEW! Berrey v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of America, 13-3869, (10/22/2014): A federal trial court ruled that an injured worker was not entitled to recover the full amount of her damages from a car accident under her employer's underinsured motorist insurance policy when her employer had already recovered a payment from the auto liability carrier for the driver at-fault for the accident.

NEW! Farris v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 12-MR-21, (10/28/2014): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that the deference ordinarily given to findings of fact by the Workers' Compensation Commission required it to uphold the commission's finding as to a worker's credibility since the incomplete record before it didn't allow it to review for any manifest error by the commission.

NEW! Lederer v. Executive Construction, Inc., 123170, (08/29/14): The Appellate Court of Illinois published a decision reviving a drywall taper's personal injury action against the general contractor on a construction project for failing to provide him with a safe workplace.

Matuszczak v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 12-MR-1631, (09/30/2014): The Appellate Court of Illinois ruled that an injured worker who was terminated for stealing from his employer was entitled to temporary total disability benefits after his termination because he had not reached maximum medical improvement before he lost his job.

PPG Industries v. The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 4-13-0698WC, (09/30/2014): The Illinois Workers' Compensation Act does not contain an evidentiary limitation that bars the presentation of evidence of a claimant's work activities which occurred more than three years prior to the alleged manifestation date of a repetitive-trauma injury, the state Appellate Court ruled.

Stevenson v. FedEx Group Package System, 1:13-CV-00138, (9/24/2014): Illinois law does not allow an employer to impose an advance notification requirement on employees who seek medical treatment following a workplace injury, according to a federal trial judge.

Jentz v. ConAgra Foods, 13-1505, 13-1542, 13-1543 and 13-1544, (09/09/2014): A federal appellate court ruled that a property owner was not liable for a nearly $180 million jury verdict in favor of three workers injured in a grain bin explosion on the property.

Mt. Hawley Insurance Co. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London, 12 CH 13946, (09/09/2014): The carrier that issued a commercial general liability insurance policy to a construction subcontractor and then wrongfully denied coverage to the additional insureds named in the policy had to indemnify the carrier that provided a defense to the additional insureds, even though its own insured – the subcontractor – was found to not be at fault for a worker's accident at the job site.