A state appeals panel has overturned a $4.6 million judgment in favor of a man who said he contracted mesothelioma by inhaling asbestos fibers while working near welding rods. Justices Peter Cavanagh, Lisa Holder White and Craig DeArmond of the Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield issued an opinion Sept. 5 in a dispute between former welder Charles McKinney and…
A tenant is suing his Worden landlord after he was allegedly injured when rotting flooring gave way. Jeffrey Wright filed a complaint on Sept. 7 in Madison County Circuit Court against Daniel Rhodes, alleging the landlord negligently maintained the property in an unsafe and dangerous condition. According to the complaint, the plaintiff was injured when the flooring underneath his rented…
A construction worker accuses a driver of speeding through a construction zone and causing injuries. Arthur Sims filed a complaint on Aug. 31 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Brian C. Webb, alleging he sped through a construction zone. According to the complaint, the plaintiff was working in a construction zone on Frank Scott Parkway East in Shiloh when…
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….
