Illinois Workers Compensation Lawyer Blog

The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission awarded temporary total disaiblty and medical benefits to a teacher who injured her neck due to two incidents at the workplace.

Case name: Bevenue v. Illinois Center for Autism, 17 ILWCLB 86 (Ill. W.C.Comm. 2009)

Summary: Bevenue, a physical education teacher and therapist for autistic children, underwent a cervical fusion in 2001 and returned to full-duty work. On Aug. 20, 2007, she injured her neck when a teenage student grabbed her. She experienced spasms down her neck and headaches and sought chiropractic treatment. She continued working until Oct. 24, 2007, when she suffered another incident at work. A teenage student grabbed her hair and would not let go. The surgeon who performed Bevenue's 2001 fusion reviewed a CT scan and concluded that there never was an absolute fusion resulting from the 2001 surgery. An orthopedic spine specialist diagnosed a central disc herniation and failed fusion. The employer's Section 12 examiner diagnosed a cervical sprain and pseudoarthrosis wtih broken screws. He explained that the pseudoarthrosis was a preexisitng condition and that Bevenue's current symptoms were due to the pseudoarthrosis. The arbitrator awarded TTD and medical benefits. Upon review, the Illinois Workers' Comepnsation Commissin affirmed and adopted the decision of the arbitrator.

Continue reading " Illinois teacher proves neck injury is work related " »

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On Wednesday, the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission announced its first work stop order in the closing of a business in Illinois for failure to comply with Illinois' mandatory Workers' Compensation Insurance requirements.

All Good Dogs Pet Care was forced to stop all work by the IWCC and the City of Evenston. They operate a store front in Evanston at 941 Chicago Ave. They employ dog walkers in six suburbs.

The authority of the IWCC to issue a work-stop order was strengthened by the state legislature in 2005. The IWCC has the authority to issue a work stop order against a state employer if the employer knowingly fails to carry workers' compensation insurance.

Continue reading " Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission issues first work stop order against Evanston employer " »

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Harry Shuford, the chief economist at the National Council on Compensation insurance moderated a panel of insurance industry leaders. The panel addressed the issue of the effect the recession would have on Workers' Compensation. The panel concluded that a recession tends to place downward pressure on exposure. Their findings were told to attendees during the Casualty Actuarial Soeciety's ratemaking and product management seminar.

According to Shuford, recessions cause a decrease in employed workers. Wages continue to grow but at a much slower pace.

"In the first two of the three most recent recessions, claim frequency dipped dramatically," he said. "In the most recent recession of 2001, the downturn was already under way, and there was an increase in the rate of decline."

Continue reading " Recession expected to have mixed impact on Workers' Compensation insurance market " »

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The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission held that a worker, who was killed in a car accident while returning home from an out-of-state project, was a traveling employee. Therefore, the decedent's accident was compensable under the WCA.

O'Neal v. RMF Delta, 17 ILWCLB 61 (Ill.W.C.Comm. 2009).

O'Neal, a boilermaker, was driving from a job in Minnesota to his home in Louisiana with a coworker when he was killed in a car accident in Illinois. O'Neal worked all his jobs through the union. After a project was over, he would return home until he received a new job. In awarding benefits, the arbitrator found the decedent was a traveling employee and that his conduct in driving home at the completion of a work project was anticipated and foreseen by the employer. Upon review, the Commission affirmed and adopted the decision of the arbitrator.

In determinnig whether a worker is a traveling employee, the courts will look at the employer's compensation to the worker for travel. The traveling employee exception is applicable where the employer agrees to compensate the employee for time spent traveling to or from work. But the exception is not applicable where the employee is only reimbursed for the expense of travel.

In this case, O'Neal was paid $42 per night for lodging and a total of $314.65 one way for mileage from his home to the job. The employer classified the payments to both workers as "mileage." However, only O'Neal was driving. Because both employees could not have incurred the same amount of travel expenses, it was clear that the payments to the employees were for time spent traveling and not for reimbursement of travel expenses.

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The fact that a worker falls into two risk categories for the development of a medical condition does not necessarily block a benefit award, especially where the worker's medical expert recognizes these risk factors and still opines that the worker's work activities were a contributing factor n the development of her condition.

Malick v. Innertech-Nashville, 17 ILWCLB 63 (Ill.W.C.Comm. 2009).

Malick worked for her employer since May 1997 as an assembler, Her duties required her to snap two parts of a door together and put the parts into a machine. She explained that her machine had been malfunctioning and it required a substantial amount of pressure to reach up underneath the doors and snap the doors together while the machine was in progress. Her rate was approximately 400 doors per day. She started feeling problems with her shoulder in January 2007. As her discomfort increased, she sought treatment in September 2007. She was diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis. In awarding benefits, the arbitrator recognized that Malik fell into two main risk categories for the development of adhesive capsultitis 1) middle-aged women: and 2) insulin-dependent diabetics. However, the arbitrator relied on the testimony of Malik's doctor who opined that the repetitive duties performed by Malik for the employer were also a contributing factor in the development of her symptoms. In so holding, the arbitrator found the opinions of Malik's doctor more thorough and well-reasoned than the opinions of the employer's expert. Also, the employer's expert failed to explain the effect of repetitive stress on the development of adhesive capsulitis. Upon review, the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission affirmed and adopted the decision of the arbitrator.

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The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission awarded medical, temporary total and permanent partial disability benefits, but denied vocational rehabilitation to a worker who injured his back and neck at work.

Hays v. Cal's Collision Center, 17ILWCLB 66 (Ill.W.C.Comm.2009).

On Jan 30, 2003, Hays, an auto body repair technician, injured hisn eck and back in a slip and fall accident at work. An MRI revealed diffuse cervical spondylosis with ostephytes and bulging disc, spinal stenosis and disc protrusion. He underwent surgery and physical therapy. In December 2005, Hays requested vocational rehabilitation, which the defendant denied. Hays then contacted the defendant seeking to return to work within his restrictions. Hays testified that he applied for a job as a car porter at several different car dealerships but did not receive a job offer. The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission found that Hays was entitled to $75,965.25 in medical expenses and 65 weeks of temporary total disability, but denied Hays' request for vocational rehabilitation.

The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission noted that Hays waited two years after reaching MMI to proceed to trial. In the interim, Hays had been off work and was receiving Social Security Disability income. Hays testified at the hearing that he believed he was incapable of sustaining gainful employment. Accordingly, the Commission was persuaded by Hays' conduct that vocational rehabiliation would be to no avail, notwithstanding that no physician opined that Hays was totally incapacitated from employment.

The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission further found that the Hays' injuries caused him to be permanently disabiled to the extent of 45 percent loss of use of the person as a whole. Hays testified that he continues to have pain when he stands, walks or sits. He has trouble lcompleting household chores and must rest after minutes of activity.

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