Important Recent Case Law for Illinois

Monday, June 6, 2011 | 0

NEW! Raymond Moore v. Vitalproducts, 09-1527, 09-1537, (05/25/2011): An employee failed to provide  evidence that he had been discriminated against racially, but there remained a question of fact of  whether he had been fired in retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim, ruled the U.S.  Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

NEW! Maggi v. RAS Development, Inc., 1-09-1955, (05/26/2011): A bricklayer's estate collected a  $3.3 million negligence award, an Illinois appellate court ruled in a decision citing a 2010 U.S.  Supreme Court opinion.

NEW! Balough v. Northeast Illinois Regional,1-09-3053, (05/19/2011): Substantial evidence showed  that a locomotive engineer was entitled to a $500,000 compensatory damages award solely for lost  wages after a trapdoor malfunctioned and struck him on the head, ruled the District 1, 4th Division  Court of Appeals.

Absolute Cleaning v. IWCC (Palazzolo), 4-10-0313WC, (04/28/2011): An injured worker's use of more  than two doctors did not bar her from benefits because her original physician had good reason to  make multiple referrals, an Illinois appellate court concluded.

Elgin Board of Education School District U-46 v. Illinois WCC (Weiler), 1-09-3446WC, (04/25/2011):  A teacher whose knee bled profusely after a minor at-work accident because of a blood-thinning  agent she was taking is eligible for benefits, but the employer was granted a credit for the sick  leave it had paid against its obligation for temporary total disability benefits, ruled the  Appellate Court of Illinois, 1st District, Workers' Compensation Commission Division.

Cathy Baldwin v. the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission et al., 4-10-0375WC, (04/28/2011):  The Workers' Compensation Commission Division of the Appellate Court of Illinois affirmed a denial  of benefits to Cathy Baldwin on Monday, after concluding that she failed to prove that her two slip  and fall injuries arose out of the course of employment.

Gunther Gassner v. Raynor Manufacturing Company, 2-10-0180, (04/27/2011): A trial court must  revisit the question of whether a claimant and employer intended for his settlement's medical care  provision to include coverage for a staphylococcal infection that may have resulted from his work- related injury, ruled the Appellate Court of Illinois, 2nd District.

City of Chicago v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (O'Rourke), 1-09-2320WC, (4/11/11): A  worker who suffered two separate back injuries that resulted in a single condition of ill-being is  not entitled to only one disability award, ruled the Appellate Court of Illinois 1st District  Workers' Compensation Commission Division.

Keeley & Sons, Inc v. Zurich American Insurance Company, 5-10-0382, (4/13/11): An insurer's  arbitration clause needed three key words that likely could have compelled an employer's  retrospective premium dispute into arbitration, ruled the 5th District Appellate Court of Illinois.

Baumgardner v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission et al., 1-10-0727WC, (04/11/2011): A  claimant who suffered multiple injuries to the same body part is not entitled to a scheduled  permanent disability award in addition to a wage-differential award.