In a dramatic turn of events, a woman has lost her appeal against the owners and managers of a parking lot where she suffered severe injuries. Rossmid Lopez-Arana filed the complaint in the Circuit Court of Cook County on January 2021 against Brian Properties, Inc., Salem Plaza Center II, LLC, and other unknown owners. The plaintiff claimed that she was…
Studies released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute found that utilization of medical services by injured workers has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in the majority of the 17 study states studied. The 17 individual studies, addressing the percentage of claims receiving a particular medical service and the number of services provided, show that the industry “continues to see…
A prisoner in Illinois has filed a lawsuit against several medical and correctional officials, alleging negligence and inadequate medical care that left him severely disabled. Michael W. Flemming, the plaintiff, submitted his complaint to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on September 23, 2024. The defendants include Andrea Tack, Dr. Larry Sy, Monica Carpenter, the…
A class action lawsuit has accused Walgreens of allegedly selling bandages that contain PFAS without warning customers. The plaintiff, Sara Sotelo, claims that Walgreens misrepresented and failed to disclose that its brand of bandages contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are known to pose significant health risks. The lawsuit alleges that these chemicals, often referred to as “forever chemicals,”…
Two recent state court decisions have highlighted the complexities of workplace falls and whether unexplained “idiopathic” causes can eliminate a claimant’s rights to workers compensation. Falls, among the most common types of injuries in the workplace, can be triggered by the work itself or the condition of the premises. They can also be considered idiopathic, or caused by some unknown…
A Chicago federal judge won’t allow hair care and cosmetic product maker Revlon to use bankruptcy proceedings – yet – to wash away class actions and many other of the thousands of lawsuits it faces over claims its hair straightening products allegedly caused cancer. On Sept. 27, U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland said she could not yet strike down an…
Texas lawyer Stuart Cochran relieved Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel of a duty to decide whether his potential class action over dangerous blenders duplicated one in California. Cochran’s client Tommy Gould moved to dismiss his complaint against Blend Jet without prejudice on Sept. 23 and Rosenstengel approved it on Sept. 25. Cochran and David Nelson of Belleville sued Blend…
A highway worker who claimed in St. Clair County Circuit Court that he had sustained severe and permanently disabling injuries, now claims in federal court that he didn’t. On Sept. 24, Mario Dolce, through his counsel Bruce R. Cook, of Belleville, advised Senior District Judge Phil Gilbert in the Southern Illinois District Court that, “Initially, it appeared that plaintiff’s injuries…
Attorney involvement in a workers compensation claims are most prevalent among workers with less than six months tenure, according to a study released Wednesday by the Waltham, Massachusetts-based Workers Compensation Research Institute. WCRI examined more than 950,000 claims of workers injured between Oct. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2019, in the 31 states covered by its database, which it says…
Syngenta and Chevron, defending about 6,000 claims that weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease, allege that 590 plaintiffs disobeyed an order to produce evidence that would support their claims. On Sept. 12 they asked Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel to set a deadline for those plaintiffs to show why they didn’t comply with a discovery order she entered in…
