All Posts By

Etzler Lawhead Legal Group, PC

Illinois bill would create state-sponsored insurance company

By Workers' Compensation No Comments

An Illinois bill that would create a state-sponsored insurance company to provide workers compensation was placed on the calendar for a second reading last Thursday. H.B. 4595, introduced by state Rep. Laura Fine, D-Glenview, would create the Illinois Employers Mutual Insurance Co. as a nonprofit that issues insurance for workers comp and occupational disease, according to the bill’s latest text….

Read More

Chicago appeals court yanks $14 million award v. ISMIE, says insurer deserved 12 jurors, not six

By Personal Injury No Comments

A Chicago appeals panel has pulled a $14.4 million jury award from the parents of a toddler, who died through medical malpractice, saying the obstetricians’ insurer – Illinois’ No. 1 malpractice provider – deserved 12 rather than six jurors, in a trial over accusations the insurer allegedly misled the doctors into going to trial in the underlying malpractice suit, instead…

Read More

Comp insurer not liable for death benefits for out-of-state driver: Judge

By Workers' Compensation No Comments

A U.S. District judge ruled in favor of an insurer who filed a summary judgment on a claim involving an Iowa workers compensation policy for a company that hired an Illinois truck driver who only worked in his home state before dying from a work-related injury, according to the ruling issued in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Friday. Eldridge,…

Read More

Post-trial settlement reached following $3.75M verdict in medical malpractice suit

By Personal Injury No Comments

After a St. Clair County jury awarded a mother and her daughter $3.75 million following the third trial attempt in a medical malpractice suit alleging hypoxia and fetal depression during birth, the parties announced that they had reached a post-trial settlement. Associate Judge Chris Kolker entered an order March 1 vacating the Dec. 12, 2017, jury award after the parties…

Read More

Magistrate recommends dismissal of woman’s dog-mauling suit

By Personal Injury No Comments

Despite “horrendous injuries” incurred as a result of “a grievous lack of discretion” by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers, a district court magistrate recommends an Indianapolis woman’s federal claim against IMPD and the city of Indianapolis be dismissed because she did not state a legitimate constitutional claim. In Mara Mancini, et al v. City of Indianapolis, et al, 1:16-cv-02048, U.S….

Read More

COA reinstates personal injury suit against company, driver

By Personal Injury No Comments

A negligence case against an Indianapolis heating and air conditioning company will be reinstated after the Indiana Court of Appeals found that summary judgment in favor of the company was inappropriate. In Thomas Hudgins and Sheila Hudgins v. Brian Bemish, Ideal Heating Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, Inc., 49A02-1505-CT-384, Brian Bemish was formerly an employee of Ideal Heating Air Conditioning and…

Read More

Student sues Armijo, district for ’emblem’ injury

By Personal Injury No Comments

An Armijo High School student sued his school and the Fairfield-Suisun district Wednesday seeking at least $25,000 for injuries he claims to have sustained after he slipped and fell Sept. 30, 2015. Darrius Parnell’s lawsuit claims he was walking across the campus quad between his third- and fourth-period classes and slipped on the painted emblem on the ground of the…

Read More

Food company Kerry faces OSHA fine for worker injuries at Melrose Park plant

By Workers' Compensation No Comments

Irish food products company Kerry Inc. has been cited by federal safety inspectors after two workers at its Chicago-area plant were injured on the job because the company allegedly failed to enforce safety procedures. One worker’s hand was amputated while clearing out a bread crumb conveyor at the plant in Melrose Park, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in…

Read More

COA holds that volunteer work was incidental to man’s employment

By Workers' Compensation

A general contractor’s volunteer work was incidental to his professional employment, so the injuries he sustained during the volunteer work must be covered under the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act. That was the Indiana Court of Appeals’ decision in John C. Morris v. Custom Kitchen & Baths, 93A02-1601-EX-179. John Morris obtained his general contractor’s license in 2011 and formed a sole…

Read More

NY Heavy Equipment Operator Indicted On Charges He Stole More Than $75,000 In Workers’ Comp Benefits While Failing To Provide His Own Employees With Required Coverage

By Workers' Compensation No Comments

New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott and Cayuga County District Attorney Jon E. Budelmann announced today the indictment and arraignment of a central New York heavy equipment operator accused of stealing more than $75,000 in Workers’ Compensation insurance benefits to which he was not entitled while also failing to provide his own logging company’s employees with required coverage….

Read More