The Illinois Appellate Court on Friday overturned a denial of benefits for the son of a construction manager who died of a heart attack while shoveling snow in 2006. The coroner concluded that Richard Cronk, who worked for Kimball Hill Homes, died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease with coronary atherosclerosis as a significant contributing factor, according to Cronk v. IWCC (Kimball…
Indemnity benefits per claim in Illinois increased 5% in 2022, driven by a 4% increase in workers’ wages, a new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) found. A 0.8-week increase in the average duration of temporary disability also contributed to the rise in indemnity benefits, the study said. The study found that Illinois also saw declining medical payments…
Firoz Khan has filed a lawsuit against Air Canada and United Airlines, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Case No. 24-cv-03622) on May 3, 2024. The plaintiff is represented by Rapoport Weisberg & Sims, P.C., and alleges that he was injured due to severe turbulence during an international flight. Khan, a resident of…
A federal judge in Chicago has ruled Wendy’s wasn’t legally obligated to protect a man who was shot while waiting in a drive-through line at a South Side restaurant. Vonzell Scott said he and a passenger visited the Wendy’s on West Garfield Boulevard, just north of Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, around 3 a.m. Dec. 31, 2018. He alleged he saw an…
According to plaintiff’s counsel, a Fayette County jury returned the first plaintiff verdict on record in their county when they awarded a tractor trailer driver $12.2 million following a 2018 crash on I-70 that caused the plaintiff to suffer back injuries. Jurors awarded plaintiff Jeremy Dutton $12,208,790.53 on April 26 for past and future loss of a normal life, past…
The probability of work-related accidents increases 5% to 6% when temperatures rise above 90 degrees, and the effect of workplace heat is stronger in the southern U.S. and in the construction industry, according to a report released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The report, “Impact of Excessive Heat on the Frequency of Work-Related Injuries,” used workers compensation claim…
Brian Sesto has filed a lawsuit against Pilkington North America, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, under case ID 1:24-cv-03149, on April 19, 2024. The suit is a personal injury claim resulting from a roof collapse incident that occurred on November 2, 2022. Sesto’s legal representation is Parente & Norem, P.C., while Pilkington…
A state appeals panel has ruled a customer who was injured when he was struck by a car that crashed through a Waukegan restaurant’s front window can sue the restaurant for failing to install protective bollards to prevent the car from driving through the storefront. According to court documents, Darius King was ordering food at Taqueria El Paraiso on North…
The aging U.S. workforce is a rising concern for employers and workers compensation insurers as older worker injury claims are more likely to contain comorbidities. Older workers usually have greater expertise than younger co-workers and are injured less frequently but they often have more preexisting health issues than younger workers, making comp claims more complex. As life expectancy increases and…
A Chicago jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $45 million to the family of a woman who died after contracting mesothelioma, allegedly caused by exposure to asbestos in talc baby powder and other products. Johnson & Johnson says it will immediately appeal and believes it will overturn the verdict, which they day is not based in scientific evidence….
