Repetitive stress injuries occur over time and may go unnoticed until doing your job becomes painful. Since no significant incident leads to the injury, you may not know how to proceed. Reviewing these frequently asked questions may help you better understand how to...
The Law Offices of Peter F. Ferracuti, P.C. Legal Blog
A Successful Claim Based on Injury Caused by Repeated Use of a Worker’s Hand
In a case involving an employee at a mental institution, who was injured as a result of continually performing multiple tasks with her right hand while at work, both the arbitrator and the Commission rendered decisions in the employee’s favor. See Claimant’s...
A Claimant Wins on Appeal to the Commission
In a case involving a plumber who injured himself at work, the Commission awarded him worker’s compensation benefits on appeal, after he was denied benefits at arbitration (where it was also asserted by the arbitrator that no work accident had occurred). See Plumber...
Can you still recover compensation if you were partially responsible for an accident?
When you think about the possibility of a motor vehicle accident, you might imagine a cut-and-dry situation in which one driver is clearly at fault and the other is a victim. In reality, many car accidents involve multiple drivers who are partially responsible for the...
Another Case with a Positive Outcome for a Claimant
In a case involving a schoolteacher obtaining an increased award of permanency from the Commission on appeal, both the arbitrator and the Commission decided in favor of the teacher (even though the Commission was more generous in awarding benefits). See Preschool...
An Open (and Obvious?) Decision on Hazards
Recently, an Appellate Court decision in Illinois reinforced the legal principle that the “open and obvious” doctrine is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for tortfeasors. In Fox v. Ameren, the Fourth District Appellate Court found that an injury alleged to be caused by...
A Case with Both a Straightforward Set of Facts and a Positive Outcome
In a case involving an employee’s tripping incident on a Chicago city bus, both the arbitrator and the Commission decided in favor of the employee. See Bus driver picks up benefits for tripping injury at work. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Law Bulletin, Volume 29,...
What happens if my workers’ compensation claim is denied?
If you recently filed a workers' compensation claim in Illinois and received a denial, you probably have a lot of questions about your case and where to go from here. While Illinois workers' compensation law exists to benefit employees like you, sometimes things do...
Employee Unable to Prove That Her Neck Issues Were Caused by Her Incident at Work
In a case involving the question of whether a claimant’s neck pain was caused by and/or related to her work-related arm and shoulder injuries, both the Arbitrator and the Commission answered said question in the negative, finding that the two were unrelated. See...
A Double Limit on Forced Arbitration in Nursing Home Case
Most everyone is familiar with liability contracts. Whether you’ve been asked to sign one before participating in a sporting or merely as a requirement to use a swimming pool or gym, contracts regularly ask us to give up legal rights in order to utilize a service. But...