Doctors who lie in depositions is a big problem in litigation. Many of them make hundreds of thousands if not millions doing defense medical exams. Unfortunately, their lies result in injured workers not being able to pay their weekly expenses to be able to support their families, despite the physicians oath that they will do no harm. It is a complete injustice to have doctors profiting by lying in order to deny legitimate claims. In Bermejo v. New York City Health and Hospital Corporation, Dr. Katz testified that his examination of a injury victim, Manuel Bermejo, took 45 minutes and Read more…
Category: Workers Compensation
In United Airlines, Inc. v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission gave the petitioner weekly wage differential payment of $277.06. The Workers’ Compensation Commission indicated that the payments should continue the duration of the disability he suffered as a consequence of his employment. In this case the arbitrator had ruled that the wage differential benefit should end effective April13, 2018. The arbitrator had found that United Airlines had proved that the claimant will be earning more in a new job than if he had remained a ramp service worker (old job). The arbitrator concluded that he could fairly determine Read more…
In Venture-Newberg Perini Stone and Webster v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, the injury victim appealed the decision of the Sangamon County court. The facts are close, and probably could have gone either way at the commission. In one sense, they did go both ways, with the arbitrator ruling against the victim and the commission ruling in his favor. The claimant was a fifty year old pipe-fitter who lived in Springfield, Illinois. He was a Union member with the Plumbers & Pipe-fitter Union, Local 137. As a Union member he would bid for his job. The respondent was a contractor that was Read more…
In Mlynarczyk v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission the petitioner was getting into her car after a break, when she slipped and fell. The arbitrator ruled that she was a traveling employee, and therefore entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Then Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission reversed that finding and held that she was not entitled to compensation. The trial court confirmed the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Commission. The Appellate Court the reversed the Workers’ Compensation Commission. In this case the claimant and her husband, Edward, were hired by employer to clean houses, churches, and offices. They were paid by the job. They drove Read more…
A worker is entitled to all related medical in the future, so long as they do not close out medical. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act (8A) says that an employer has to pay for “all the necessary first-aid, medical and surgical services, and all necessary medical, surgical and hospital services thereafter”. This was demonstrated in the recent case Dye v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. In Dye the petitioner had a non-contested injury. She bumped her head. As a result she had headaches for some time and a small bump on her forehead. There was no fracture, but she was diagnosed with closed Read more…
In Supreme Catering v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, the victim got injured in a car accident while working for Supreme Catering. The victim presented medical bills in the amount of $141,017.00 and claimed temporary total disability benefits, TTD, of $200.00 per week for 52 5/7 weeks. The respondent disputed the matter on the issue of employer-employee relationship, denying the claim for compensation. The arbitrator found that the claimant was not an employee of the employer. The claimant filed a petition for review of the arbitrator’s decision. The commission found that an employer-employee relationship did exist between the respondent and the victim. Read more…
In April of 2012, The Illinois Auditor General, William G. Holland, released an audit of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation claims. The Auditor General found many issues with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation system. The report “Workers’ Compensation Program as it Applies to State Employees” was over 100 pages. The audit indicated that there are “no guidelines for how much to award.” “For instance, a common injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome meant compensation for the loss of five percent use of the hand in one case and total disability in the other.” This is not correct. The workers’ compensation system has Read more…