Arlington Heights approved a workers’ compensation settlement for a police officer who is still employed with the police department, marking the second payout to the worker in recent years.
Trustees approved at the March 4 meeting paying $45,963 to police Officer Nancy Hundrieser to settle a workers’ compensation claim filed last year for an injury that reportedly happened Dec. 15, 2014, according to village officials and Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission records.
The state agency “resolves disputes between employees and employers regarding work-related injuries and illnesses,” according to its website.
According to village documents, Hundrieser “injured her shoulder while participating in defensive tactics training.” Village officials declined to further explain how Hundrieser, who officials said has worked for the police department since 1996, got hurt.
Mary Rath, the director of the Arlington Heights Human Resources Department, said she couldn’t go into details of how the injuries occurred, but confirmed that Hundrieser still works for the village.
Hundrieser’s attorney also declined to comment.
The approved settlement was for one of two claims Hundrieser filed against the village March 21, 2018. The other claim indicated that the officer’s right hand and thumb were injured in a Feb. 16, 2017 incident, according to IWCC records.
Village attorney Lisa Farrington said the village previously settled the claim involving that 2017 injury.
“Since the amount was under $25,000, it did not need to go to the Village Board for approval,” she said.
Farrington did not disclose when the village paid to settle that claim, or the amount of the settlement.
Rath said the village takes workplace injuries seriously and if policies needed to be updated to prevent injuries then changes are made. But, the human resources chief said she could not say if any policies were changed or updated after Hundrieser was injured.
“Anytime there is a work place injury it is seriously reviewed. If changes are deemed necessary, they are made,” Rath said.
This article was first published by The Chicago Tribune.
