Chicago Workers Compensation Lawyer Blog

Wal-Mart worker Bruce Florence has died after sustaining a brain injury that he sustained when he attempted to detain a shoplifter at the store where he worked. Florence got hurt on June 14 when he tried to stop a man that was trying to sneak a TV that hadn’t been paid for out of the store.

The alleged thief, William Allen Kennedy, is accused of pushing the Wal-Mart employee and knocking him to the ground before running outside to a waiting motor vehicle.

Florence hurt his head when he fell. Doctors say that he began experiencing bleeding in the brain. After Florence was hospitalized for a number of days, he passed away on Father’s Day.

Kennedy, who is a suspect in other store robberies, is charged with aggravated robbery and shoplifting. Police say that he could be charged with murder if the medical examiner determines that Florence died because of the brain injury he sustained when Kennedy shoved him.

Although working in a department store may seem like a safe occupation, injuries can occur on the job, including:

• Ladder fall-related injuries
• Electrical accidents
• Injuries from falling merchandise
• Slip and fall injuries
• Back injuries
• Repetitive strain injuries
• Neck injuries
• Injuries sustained during store robberies and other violent crimes

Injured workers are likely covered under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. These employees cannot sue their employer, but they should receive their Illinois workers' compensation benefits in a timely manner. If third parties were involved, the injured employee may have reason to file a Chicago personal injury lawsuit.

Local Wal-Mart Worker Injured By Shoplifter Dies, CBS11TV, June 23, 2010

Wal-Mart worker dies after being pushed down by Fort Worth shoplifting suspect, Dallas News, June 24, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Wal*Mart Corporate

Workers' Compensation Overview, Justia

Brain Hemorrhage, Web MD

48-year-old James K. Humphres died on June 7 when he was fatally injured during an Illinois work accident at the GSI Group plant in Newton. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been investigating the machine operator’s death.

Results from an autopsy performed the day after his death indicate a preliminary finding of blunt force compression trauma causing compound cranial fractures.

If your loved one died in an Illinois work accident it is important to file your claim for survivors’ benefits as soon as possible. This should prevent any delays in you receiving the compensation you are owed. It doesn’t matter who was at fault in causing the work injury. Under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act, family members are entitled to survivors benefits, which can include:

• $8,000 for burial costs
• 66 2/3rd% of the employee’s gross average weekly wage during the 52 weeks prior to the work injury (minimum and maximum limits apply)
• Minimum survivors’ benefit cannot fall under 50% of the statewide average weekly wage at the time that the injury happened (a reduction for individuals that were partially dependent on the deceased may apply)
• Maximum survivors’ benefit cannot exceed 113 1/3% of the SAWW at the time of injury. This benefit is paid for 25 years of weekly benefits or $500,000 (whichever amount is greater)

The worker’s spouse and young children are the primary beneficiaries.

Our Chicago survivors benefits law firm knows how hard it is to lose someone you love in such a tragic manner. We know that no amount of money will make up for that loss, but receiving compensation can relieve some of the financial burden.

Hidalgo man, 48, dies in accident at GSI Group plant in Newton, Herald-Review, June 10, 2010

Handbook on Workers' Compensation and Occupational Diseases, Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

Related Web Resources:
OSHA

Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

Smurfit-Stone has settled an unlawful business practices case accusing the company of violating workers’ compensation rules, including allegedly trying to conceal worker injuries in an attempt to discourage employees from submitting workers’ compensation claims. According to the District Attorney’s Office’s consumer protection unit, there were instances when Smurfit-Stone workers were not given claim forms and work injuries were either not documented or their reporting was delayed.

By agreeing to settle, Smurfit-Stone is not denying or admitting to any wrongdoing. In addition to the $100,000 civil penalties, $4,293 in restitution will be divided between 11 victims. The settlement comes with an injunction that prevents the company’s owners from disregarding workers’ compensation rules in the future. Smurfit-Stone is currently going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

In a related case, chiropractor Robert Ray Schreiner is charged with 16 felony counts, including conspiracy to deny workers’ compensation benefits to injured workers, making false statements to an insurer, and filing fraudulent insurance claims. Schreiner, who owns California Chiropractic Center and Golden State Physical Therapy, allegedly treated at least six Smurfit-Stone workers for work injuries and is said to have tried to persuade them that the injuries were caused by non-work-related activities. He also is accused of telling injured employees that their employer would pay for the initial visits but that their own insurers would have to cover the rest. The injured employees paid co-payments and deductibles for medical services that should have been covered by their workers’ compensation. The chiropractor is also accused of billing private insurers for workers’ compensation-related services.

Smurfit-Stone settles workers' comp case for $100,000, The Herald, June 17, 2010

Salinas Chiropractor Arrested for Workers' Comp Fraud, ClaimsJournal.com, June 4, 2010

Related Web Resources:

Illinois Workers' Compensation Act (PDF)

Workers' Compensation, Illinois Department of Labor

Continue reading " Smurfit-Stone to Pay $100,000 to Settle Allegations of Violating Workers’ Compensation Rules " »

A state Supreme Court has ruled that the widow of a pilot who was died while riding a Comair plane that crashed can seek workers’ compensation benefits. Sarah Fortney’s husband Clarence Fortney, an AirTran Airways pilot, was flying to work when Comair Flight 5191 crashed on August 2006.

AirTran has contended that the pilot’s death was not work-related because while Fortney was headed to work at the time, he was not actually “on the clock” when the plane he was riding crashed seeing as during air commutes to and from their work pilots were not required to do any actual and were not paid for their travel time. AirTran has also said that it wasn’t responsible for Comair’s actions leading up to the plane crash that killed Fortney.

An administrative law judge agreed that AirTran was not obligated to pay Sarah work injury payments.

However, the Fortney family’s workers’ compensation lawyers kept pursuing her case. They argued that the AirTran policy not only let pilots live away from its Atlanta hub, but also that the airline company offered free or reduced air travel rates to the pilots on the airline’s own planes as well as on other airlines it had reciprocal conveyance agreements with so that the employees could get to their work base without having to live in the same area. Because Clarence Fortney’s work was based at the Airtran’s hub in Atlanta, he commuted eight to ten times a month between Lexington and Atlanta.

The high court agreed with the Fortney family and has reversed and remanded the ALJ's ruling.

Illinois Workers’ Compensation
Just because your work injury claim has been denied does not mean you are not entitled to Illinois workers’ compensation benefits. Don’t take a “no” from your employer’s insurer as the final answer and explore your legal options.

Court rules that widow of Comair crash victim should get benefits, Kentucky.com, June 18, 2010

Read the Opinion, Leagle.com

Related Web Resources:
Your right to workers' compensation benefits, Nolo

Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

According to the Illinois Municipal League, the amount of workers’ compensation claims filed by the employees of the village of Roscoe over the last six years is causing insurance premiums to go up. Now, the IML is pressing the village to reduce the number of work injury claims and improve safety policies and training.

The village obtains health insurance through the IML Risk Management Association. Because its claims have been more than its premium, the premium has gone up from $83,000 in 2008 to over $100,000 last year.

Now, the IML has given Roscoe until July 31, 2010 to complete a new employee safety handbook and establish plans for better training programs.

Illinois Workers’ Compensation
Implementing policies and training programs that will allow workers to minimize injuries and decrease the number of work accidents is always good news. However, regardless of whether or not there are the proper systems in place to limit the number of work injuries and deaths, if a worker is injured on the job he or she is likely entitled to receive Illinois workers’ compensation for medical bills, disability, temporary disabilities, permanent disabilities, and/or income loss. If the worker died from his/her injuries or illness then family members may be eligible to receive survivors’ benefits.

Workers’ compensation claim hurt Roscoe's budget, RR Star, June 14, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Workers' Compensation FAQ, Nolo

Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

Continue reading " Illinois Municipal League Pressures the Village of Roscoe to Reduce Number of Workers’ Compensation Claims " »

A 60-year-old worker is dead after he was pulled into a wood chipper. Henry Lira had been working in his job for over 40 years prior to the catastrophic work accident, which wasn’t even his first.

It was 25 years ago that Lira badly mangled one arm and lost the other during another workplace accident, which forced him to need a prosthetic limb. He also sustained burn injuries from electric shock when he grabbed jumper cables out of a crane’s cab and the crane extension made contact with a nearby power line. Lira and his ex-wife sued PG&E for personal injury claiming that the line that made contact with the crane was a hazard because it had been sagging. A jury ruled in favor of the defendant.

Monday’s fatal accident happened while Lira and three other workers were doing road maintenance and clearing brush. He died at the work accident site.

Wood Chipper Injuries
Wood chipper injuries are not uncommon. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its 2004 report, that each year about three deaths and 204 injuries are caused by wood chippers.

Working with and around a wood chipper can be dangerous for everyone involved. Employees feeding the wood chipper branches and tree limbs risk getting pulled into the machine’s rapidly turning chipper knives.

This is why it is so important that workers are properly trained to work with a wood chipper, safe work practices are put in place, and the wood chipper is properly maintained and correctly operated.

Illinois Workers' Compensation
Spouses and children of employees killed on the job are entitled to survivors benefits under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act. It is important that you receive all of the benefits that you and your family are owed.

County worker killed in wood chipper lost arm in earlier workplace accident, Mercury News, June 8, 2010

Wood chipper injuries not so rare, WVEC, November 23, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Hazards of Wood Chippers, OSHA

Continue reading " Worker Pulled into a Wood Chipper Dies " »

Nadya Suleman has settled her workers’ compensation case against Metropolitan State Hospital. The mother of 14, who is known as the “Octomom,” hurt her back when she was hit by a desk that was thrown by a patient during a 1999 disturbance at the hospital.

Suleman, who was a psychiatric technician at the time, went briefly back to work following the work accident. She collected nearly $170,000 in disability payments between 2000 and 2008. Now, she will receive a $40,000 settlement—though documents indicate that she is only actually going to get $23,120 once permanent disability payments she already received and attorney fees are deducted.

Suleman had also filed a workers’ compensation claim in 2001 after she was injured in a car accident that occurred while she was headed to a facility to receive medical treatment. She claimed that she had hurt her back, neck, and shoulders during the car crash. Although her employer objected, Sulemen won out at the hearing and she received continued benefits because of her injuries.

Illinois Workers’ Compensation
If you are owed workers’ compensation for injuries you sustained while doing your job, there is no reason why you shouldn't be getting paid. Not only will you need your medical expenses related to your injuries covered, but also you cannot sue your employer and you may have to take time off from work. In addition to the effects of any physical pain and suffering, all of this can place a lot of emotional pressure, as well as a financial toll, on you and your family. Do NOT give up hope if your Chicago workers’ compensation claim was denied. Explore your legal options.

Octuplets mom Nadya Suleman settles her workers’ comp case, Los Angeles Times, June 7, 2010

Octuplet mom filed 2 workers' comp claims, UPI, February 4, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Illinois Workers' Compensation Act (PDF)

Investigators are still trying to determine the reason a section of scaffolding collapsed at a Binghamton University construction site on Wednesday. The construction accident caused six workers to fall five stories (about 60 feet) to the ground. All of the injured workers are employed by Apple Roofing, a subcontractor on the nine-building construction project that LeChase Construction is managing.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has six months to complete its probe into the construction accident. According to one BU employee who had passed by the site, the scaffolding looked overloaded with too many people, lumber, and other material.

Scaffolding Accidents
• OSHA says that out of 2.3 million construction workers, 65% have to work with scaffolding.

• According to the US Department of Labor, there were 88 scaffolding deaths in 2007.

• More than 4,000 scaffolding injuries and occur each year.

• 72% of scaffolding injuries that year either involved the support or planking giving way or a worker slipping or getting hit by a falling object.

• Many of these injuries and deaths could have been avoided were it not for improper scaffolding construction or maintenance.

• Common serious scaffolding injuries include traumatic brain injuries, head injuries, spinal cord injuries, back injuries, neck injuries, broken bones, and other physical trauma.

With so many parties usually involved in a construction project, not only are you, as an injured worker, likely entitled to Illinois workers’ compensation benefits from your employer’s insurer, but you also may be able to file Chicago construction accident lawsuits against the other parties responsible for your work accident.

More Details Released On Scaffold Collapse; Still No Cause Determined, WICZ, June 3, 2010

Scaffolding at Binghamton University erected one day before collapse, Pressconnects.com, June 3, 2010

Scaffolding, US Department of Labor

Related Web Resources:
Construction Accidents, OSHA

A Guide to Safe Scaffolding, NCDOL (PDF)

Continue reading " Scaffolding Accident at Construction Site Injures Six Workers " »

A judge says that a seasonal worker who was mauled by a grizzly bear he was trying to feed at Great Bear Adventures on November 2, 2007 is eligible for workers’ compensation. Brock Hopkins, then 23, sustained serious injuries during the attack, including a detached kneecap, leg wounds, and possibly permanent muscle damage.

Russell Kilpatrick, the owner of the property where the park is located, had argued that not only did Hopkins admit to taking nonprescription marijuana before coming to work, but also he was not an employee but a volunteer. Judge James Jeremiah Shea, however, disagreed and said that Hopkins was injured while doing a job that Kilpatrick had paid him to do. The judge also noted that while smoking pot before going to a job that takes place around grizzly bears is “mind-bogglingly stupid to say the most,” there was no evidence presented that was conclusive enough to convince him that Hopkins’ marijuana use played a role in causing the bear to attack. Shea said “grizzlies are equal opportunity maulers.”

It’s not clear whether or not Kilpatrick told Hopkins to feed the bear that day. Kilpatrick claims that he did not, although he admits to telling him to adjust the gates. The bear mauling incident occurred after Hopkins, who had spent two hours working on gate, went back to Kilpatrick and found him sleeping. The seasonal worker then started mixing bear food and then went into the grizzly pen where he was attacked. Hopkins was able to escape by crawling under the electric fence.

Hopkins’ workers’ compensation attorney says that his client will “hurt when he’s older” because of his work injuries. Meantime, Kilpatrick is seeking a motion for reconsideration.

In Grizzly Mauling, Judge Rules Pot Not the Cause, Flathead Beacon, June 3, 2010

Bear gets munchies for pot smoker, Associated Press/KVAL, June 4, 2010

Related Web Resources:

Continue reading " Man Who Smoke Pot Before Grizzly Bear Attacked Him is Eligible for Workers’ Compensation " »

According to Antoine Smith, Allied Services fired him last November because he filed an Illinois workers’ compensation claim for his work injuries. The Cahokia man is seeking over $100,000 plus costs.

Smith, who began working for Allied Services on August 18, 2008, says he was fired on November 12, 2009. He says that he was let go after he got hurt on September 4, 2009, notified his employer about his injuries, obtained medical help, filed his Illinois workers’ compensation claim, took time off work, and started receiving work injury benefits.

Smith says that while he supposedly lost his job because the company had decided to cut the number of workers it employed and he had left work without giving proper notice, he contends that his termination was in fact payback because he availed of his rights under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. Smith says that the reason he was absent from work was because of the injury that he sustained on the job.

Because he was fired, the Smith says that he lost his medical and dental coverage, substantial income, sick leave, vacation time, retirement and pension benefits, as well as his seniority. He also as experienced emotional pain and suffering.

Workers’ Compensation
Each year, thousands of people are injured on the job in the US, while tens of thousands of others will die from an occupational disease. Although you cannot sue your employer for Illinois personal injury or wrongful death for your work-related injury, you are entitled to certain rights under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.

Key steps to take after getting hurt on the job:
• Get medical help
• Tell your employer
• Speak with a Chicago workers’ compensation law firm about your case
• File your Illinois workers’ compensation claim

Allied Services worker claims he was terminated after filing for work comp, The Record, May 31, 2010

Hurt on the Job, AFL-CIO

Related Web Resource:
llinois Workers’ Compensation Act (PDF)