Important Recent Illinois Case Law

Monday, October 26, 2009 | 0

NEW! Lenny Szarek, Inc. v. Workers' Compensation Commission, 03-08-0530WC, (10/20/2009): A carpenter's marijuana use did not bar him from collecting benefits for a two-story fall through a hole in the floor.

NEW! Elmhurst Park District v. IWCC, 1-08-2289WC, (10/22/2009): Claimants participation in work place game was not a voluntary recreational activity as contemplated in Section 11 of the Workers' Compensation Act.

Bassgar, Inc. v. IWCC (Wicks), 07-MR-947, (10/15/2009): Where the commission determines that claimant was not the initial aggressor in work-related altercation, claimant's conviction for battery based on second act of aggression does not create an identical issue in which collateral estoppel will apply.

Washington District 50 Schools v. IWCC, 08MR183, (10/16/2009): Where the employment prior to the injury extended over a period of less than 52 weeks, the method of dividing the earnings during that period by the number of weeks and parts thereof during which the employee actually earned wages shall be followed.

Grabs v. Safeway, Inc., 1-08-3007, (09/30/2009): When an employer is faced with conflicting medical opinions from the employee's doctor and the employer's IME, an employer may not rely solely on an IME in terminating an employee for failing to return to work or for failing to call in his absences.

Country Mutual Ins. Co. v. D and M Tile Inc., 08-MR-389, (09/29/2009): The plain and ordinary meaning of 'bona fide' in this context means a person who is genuinely an officer of a corporation, rather than someone who holds such a title in pretense or fraud.

Barbee v. Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund, 07-MR-21, (09/24/2009): A worker's claim for disability is separate and distinct from a survivor's claim for death benefits resulting from worker's injury.

Restaurant Development Group v. Hee Suk Oh, 1-08-2143WC, (06/19/2009): A bartender who was partially paralyzed by a stray bullet from a gang-related shooting proved that her employment placed her at greater risk of being shot than the general public.

Grabs v. Safeway, et al., 1-08-3007, (06/17/2009): An employer may not solely rely on the opinion of an independent medical evaluator when faced with conflicting opinions about whether an injured worker is capable of returning to work.

Global Products v. Workers' Compensation Commission, 07L50557, (06/09/2009): An employee did not smoke cigarettes to intentionally delay his recovery from spinal surgery.

Circuit City Stores Inc. v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 2080722WC, (05/29/2009): A man who fractured his hip while ramming a vending machine in an effort to dislodge a bag of chips is entitled to workers' compensation benefits.

Beelman Trucking v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 106680, (05/21/2009): Claimant sought only the difference between what an owner of an unmodified van would pay and what the insurance company charged for insuring the modifications to claimant's van that his disability requires. The commission's factual determination that the insurance premium is a necessary and reasonable medical expense is not against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Residential Carpentry Inc. v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, et al., 03-08-0122WC, (05/13/2009): A claimant's ability to perform some duties does not necessarily mean that he is employable, and does not bar him from collecting temporary total disability benefits.

Burzic vs. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 1-08-2303WC, (04/28/2009): Section 4(c) of the Act requires more than a mere finding of delay or unfairness in the settlement or payment of benefits to support disciplinary action against an insurer or its agent; there must be a policy of delay or unfairness.