A fatal crash involving a Subway worker who was speeding and had marijuana in her system must be reconsidered because the wrong legal standard was applied in awarding workers compensation benefits, an Illinois appellate court ruled Monday. In Subway v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District reversed a lower court ruling and set aside a…
When a workplace injury results in paralysis or other life-altering conditions, the related workers compensation claim often extends far beyond medical care and indemnity, increasingly encompassing the cost and complexity of modifying, or even rebuilding, the injured worker’s home. What was once a relatively rare component of catastrophic claims is becoming more common as advances in medicine result in more…
Baby formula maker Abbott Labs has been ordered to pay at least $70 million, after a jury found the company should pay for allegedly not doing enough to prevent four infants from ingesting infant formula that caused them to become severely ill. The verdict came despite the formula manufacturer’s assertions that evidence showed that in at least three of the…
Yerano Martinez was seriously injured in a car accident after he drove through a stop sign at an intersection. Martinez alleged that an overgrown bush, located on property owned by Jeffrey Smith, obscured the stop sign. The bush extended from Smith’s property into the county’s right-of-way, which is a strip of land adjacent to the roadway. Martinez argued that Smith…
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a trial court ruling in favor of the National Collegiate Athletic Association in a case that debated whether the organization had a duty to warn individual student athletes about the risks of football-related head trauma, which can lead to death. The opinion, written by court of appeals Judge Leanna Weissman on Tuesday, stated…
The Indiana Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments next month in a case debating interpretations of the state’s driver responsibilities statute. Judges Robert Altice, Dana Kenworthy and Mary DeBoer will hear the arguments at KIPP Indy Legacy High School in Decatur County on April 9. The case stems from a 2023 motorcycle accident in which Bradley Hobbs and his…
Lawyers can sue Colgate-Palmolive over fluoride-containing mouthrinse marketed as for children but can’t push similar claims over toothpaste, a Chicago federal judge has ruled. Judge Andrea Wood reached that decision last week in three cases against Colgate and Tom’s of Maine that allege fluoride poses safety risks to children under the age of 6. Fluoride is part of the Make…
A federal judge won’t let Sam’s Club take a lawsuit out of St. Clair County Circuit Court from a delivery driver who fell in the loading dock area of the chain’s O’Fallon store, as the judge didn’t buy Sam’s Club’s contention the driver’s lawyers had “fraudulently” added the store managers as defendants in an apparent tactic to keep the case…
Heat exposure, workplace violence and structural changes to coverage systems are key emerging issues shaping the workers compensation landscape in 2026, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Council on Compensation Insurance. The report indicates that while familiar policy debates — including mental injury claims, presumption laws, cancer initiatives and worker classification — remain active, regulators and lawmakers…
After tripping and falling on a large mat in a hospital lobby, Caryl Rosen filed a lawsuit claiming the mat’s condition caused her injuries. The hospital preserved video from one camera that showed the fall and shared it with her attorney. However, two other cameras in the area were not saved, and Rosen argued that earlier footage or different angles…
