Section 5(a) of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act provides the damages an employer must pay for work-related injuries. It specifies a worker injured in the line of duty cannot sue her employer or its other employees. That prohibition is easy enough to apply where one employee is injured by the negligence of another, or of the employer, at the business…
Passengers are suing United Airlines Inc. and CommutAir, claiming they were traumatized when the plane they were traveling in had to make an emergency landing. Pamela S. Glover, Gregory L. Glover and Scott E. Glover filed a complaint on Aug. 24 in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging , on Sept. 24, 2016, Pamela Glover was traveling with her granddaughter, identified…
A motorist is blaming Walmart for a fatal crash that allegedly happened after her vehicle’s front tire was changed at Walmart but “deflated and came entirely off the rim,” as she drove on Interstate 90, causing two vehicles to slam into her car. Carlota Brinson filed a complaint on Sept. 5 in Cook County Circuit Court against Walmart and Matthew…
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a claim filed by nearly 30 workers who argue a microwave popcorn plant failed to warn them of exposure during the manufacturing process to a butter flavor ingredient that has been linked to a disease known as “popcorn lung.” The workers allege that exposure caused them to suffer from respiratory injuries related to…
In the first six months of 2018, opioid prescriptions to injured workers declined six percentage points, according to a report released Tuesday by Optum Inc.’s Workers’ Compensation and Auto No-Fault program. The Eden Prairie, Minnesota, pharmacy benefits management’s recent report falls in line with similar figures in workers comp that show dips in opioids in the comp sector, showing that…
The combination of highway traffic congestion and winter weather in densely populated urban regions such as Chicago and the poor road conditions in some parts of rural Illinois can make driving in Illinois a hazardous task. And in spite of the implementation of highway safety programs such as Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, Don’t Text and Drive, and Click…
A state appeals court has revived a woman’s lawsuit against Kmart, saying the retailer can be sued because the judge could not clearly discount the woman’s account of how she came to trip over an empty shopping basket in her path on the floor of a Rockford store on Black Friday 2013. The Illinois Second District Appellate Court ruled Aug….
Workers’ compensation reform became an issue during an appearance by the Republican and Democratic candidates for Illinois attorney general during a forum in Normal on Wednesday, according to press reports. The Chicago Tribune reported that Republican candidate Erika Harold supports business-friendly reforms proposed by Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, who is running for re-election. That brought a rebuke by Democratic challenger…
Illinois’ efforts to become a more favorable captive domicile may have stalled, but they could resurface later this year when the legislature starts its next session, experts say. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner last week issued an amendatory veto of S.B. 1737 — legislation that would overhaul a number of provisions in the Illinois Insurance Code — because of concerns that…
The Indiana Court of Appeals cautioned against plaintiffs proclaiming amounts in controversy will not exceed $75,000 unless they can be held to their word when it ruled in a semitruck crash case Tuesday. In July 2015, two semi-tractor trailers collided on Interstate 465, injuring one of the drivers, Julian Hayes, who later sued the other driver, William Harr, and Harr’s…
