Illinois Case Law Update

Wednesday, March 11, 2015 | 0

NEW! Nee v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 12-L-51321, (02/27/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that a plumbing inspector's trip and fall over a curb resulted in a compensable injury because the nature of his job placed him at an increased risk of having such an accident.

NEW! Sharwarko v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 12-L-51346, (02/27/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that a retired municipal worker wasn't entitled to temporary total disability benefits after he voluntarily retired from his job, nor was he entitled to permanent total disability benefits, because he failed to prove his inability to work.

NEW! Pryor v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 12-MR-821, (02/19/2015): The Appellate Court of Illinois ruled that a car hauler's back injury while loading his overnight bag into his personal vehicle, in preparation for his regular commute to a truck terminal where he would pick up his 18-wheeler, wasn't in the course of his employment.

NEW! Ferris, Thompson & Zweig Ltd. v. Esposito, 117443, (01/23/2015): The Lake County Circuit Court, not the Workers' Compensation Commission, had jurisdiction to resolve a dispute between two law firms over referral fees owed after workers' compensation claims were settled, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled.

Bob Red Remodeling Inc. v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (Lemanski), 1-13-0974WC, (12/31/2014): The Appellate Court of Illinois ruled that a worker was entitled to an award of permanent and total disability benefits based on his traumatic brain injury, and that he did not forfeit his entitlement to compensation by refusing to follow the doctor-recommended treatment plan authorized by his employer.

RG Construction Services v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (Martinez), 1-13-2137WC, (12/31/2014): An employer's due process rights are not violated by its inability to cross-examine a worker's treating doctors about their opinions, as stated in the medical reports the worker submitted in support of his claim, the Illinois Appellate Court ruled.

Hiatt v. Western Plastics, 11-L-306, (12/2014): A divided Illinois Appellate Court panel revived a manufacturing worker's tort claim against his employer's alleged joint venturer based on an industrial accident that resulted in the amputation of both of his arms.

Village of Deerfield v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 2-13-1202WC, (12/23/2014): The Appellate Court of Illinois ruled that injuries to different body parts of the person-as-a-whole are not injuries to the same body part.