Illinois Case Law Update

Thursday, October 22, 2015 | 0

NEW! Bayer v. Panduit Corp., 2015 IL App (st) 132252, (10/19/2015): An employer is not required to pay attorney fees on future medical benefits that were suspended because of the claimant's success in a third-party lawsuit against a premises owner, the Illinois Appellate Court ruled in a case involving a $64 million judgment to an iron worker who was rendered paraplegic in an industrial accident.

Morris v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 5-14-0622, (09/25/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court revived a railway worker's claim under the Federal Employers' Liability Act for his injuries from an assault by a trespasser he encountered aboard a train.

Pekin Insurance Co. v. CSR Roofing Contractors, 13 CH 16877, (09/21/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that a commercial general liability insurance carrier was not entitled to summary judgment absolving it of any duty to defend a general contractor from a personal injury suit filed by a subcontractor's injured employee.
 
Village of Vernon Hills v. Heelan, 118170, (09/24/2015): The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a police officer's receipt of a line-of-duty disability pension for a hip injury established that he had suffered a "catastrophic injury" for purposes of the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act, as a matter of law.
 
Klancir v. BNSF Railway Co., 13 L 11652, (09/10/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that a railway worker forfeited his Federal Employers' Liability Act claim by nonsuiting his original claim and then waiting more than three years after his alleged date of injury to refile.
 
Pekin Insurance Co. v. Martin Cement Co., 3-14-0290, (09/02/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that a commercial general liability insurance carrier was not entitled to summary judgment on its denial of its duty to defend a cement company from a negligence claim by a subcontractor's employee.
 
Bremer v. The City of Rockford, No. 08-MR-437, (08/24/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court is standing by its earlier decision that a firefighter's receipt of a disability pension established that he had a "catastrophic injury" for purposes of the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act.
 
Adcock v. Illinois WCC, 2-13-0884WC, (08/15/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that a welder who injured his knee while pivoting on the wheeled stool he used at work was entitled to benefits.
 
Burge v. Exelon Generation Co., 2-14-1090, (07/30/2015): The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that a property owner was not immune from civil liability to its security contractor's injured employee.
 
Dibble v. Quinn, 14-2328, and Akemann v. Quinn, 14-2746, (07/20/2015): The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that two ousted arbitrators for the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission did not have a constitutionally protected property interest in their positions when Public Act 97-18 took effect to shorten their terms in office.