The Supreme Court of Illinois on Thursday ruled a chef’s knee injury, suffered as he knelt to look for a tray of carrots, was compensable, reversing several earlier court decisions that in part found the injury to not be work-related. In 2014, sous chef Kevin McAllister was working at Chicago’s North Pond restaurant setting up for his shift when another…
A jury trial has been scheduled for Nov. 1, 2021 in a lawsuit alleging a truck driver died while transporting strawberries in dry ice. Paula Johnson, individually and as administrator of the estate of Eric Johnson, filed the original complaint Nov. 14 against Prairie Farms Dairy Inc., PFD Supply Corporation and Polar Tech Industries. She later filed a second amended…
A motorist claims he was injured when another driver rear-ended his vehicle multiple times in the World Wide Technology Raceway parking grounds. Randall Snider filed the complaint Sept. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Alan Schakel. According to the complaint, Snider was operating a 2013 Pontiac Grand Prix on the parking grounds of…
A group of industry associations, medical groups and safety organizations are urging the U.S. House of Representatives to hold hearings about potential workplace safety impacts if marijuana is federally decriminalized. The National Safety Council and 21 other groups sent a letter to the House on Wednesday over concerns that the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019, also known…
A woman alleges she slipped and fell on water at a Wal-Mart in O’Fallon and suffered injuries. Valerie Hych filed a complaint Aug. 24 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Wal-Mart Inc., doing business as Sam’s Club, alleging negligence. Hych alleges in her complaint that she was shopping at the Wal-Mart store in O’Fallon on July 5. While…
A woman claims a Steak and Shake restaurant failed to maintain its property in a safe condition, resulting in her alleged slip and fall. Sharon Reed filed a complaint Aug. 26 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Steak and Shake Enterprises Inc., alleging negligence. According to the complaint, Reed was at a Steak and Shake on Lincoln Trail…
A teacher at Chicago State University said his workers’ compensation claim was denied after he was attacked by a stranger in the classroom in April. Richard Arredondo, 62, said he was lecturing in his accounting class on April 25 when an intruder walked in and stared at five female students, according to a local news report. “All of a sudden,…
Self-insured employers facing the threat of COVID-19 workplace safety litigation could opt to accept infection workers compensation claims, as exclusive remedy clauses could provide better protection from expensive lawsuits later on, according to legal experts. “Liability is scary because there are no caps,” said Mike Fish, Birmingham, Alabama-based founding member of the comp defense firm Fish Nelson & Holden LLC…
More workers with lower back pain are receiving physical therapy to treat their workplace injuries, and that therapy is leading to shorter durations of disability and lower medical costs, according to a study released Tuesday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. Researchers at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based WCRI examined 26,000 low-back workers comp claims with more than seven days of lost time…
A man claims an infection was misdiagnosed and left untreated by St. Elizabeth’s Hospital medical staff, resulting in permanent injury. Gerald Vardiman filed a complaint Aug. 20 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Kevin McCarthy, M.D., Michael Brazelton, P.A., Amanda Zhang, M.D., and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital of The Third Order of St. Francis, doing business as HSHS St….
