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A former Sam's Club employee claims she was fired for seeking worker's compensation benefits after she was injured on the job. Plaintiff Magdalena P. Szetlak filed the lawsuit in the Madison County Circuit Court against Sam's Club, citing wrongful termination in violation of the Illinois Worker's Compensation Act. According to the lawsuit, Szetlak was an employee of a Sam's Club…

An Illinois appeals court has reinstated the workers compensation benefits of a crossing guard injured in a slip-and-fall incident, ruling that a lower court was wrong to overturn the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission’s awarding of medical benefits in the case. The First District Appellate Court of Illinois, Workers’ Compensation Commission Division Thursday determined that the commission was correct to award…

Indiana lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a state-funded program to provide unspecified income and mental health services to first responders who have been involved in “a qualified critical incident.” H.B. 1136, introduced Tuesday, would establish the Indiana “first responders mental health wellness fund and program” and would cover those who are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following…

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a budget bill Monday that included provisions addressing the increasingly popular topic of reducing injuries among warehouse workers. Pritzker signed S.B. 1720, a budget implementation act for fiscal year 2023 that also creates the Warehouse Safety Standards Task Force. The task force is charged with providing the governor and lawmakers quarterly updates about its findings,…

Opioid prescribing in workers compensation nosedived to an all-time low last year, a new report finds, but experts say the picture is complicated, with other drugs taking over the pain management space, among other factors. AmTrust Financial Services Inc. reported in October that only 15.2% of its workers compensation claims for 2021 involved an opioid prescription, down from 60% in…