Articles Posted in Workplace Injury

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We are lawyers and we pride ourselves on doing things the old-fashioned way and dotting every “I” and crossing every “t”. Lawyers have been using legal pads since the 19th century. We now live in an age of computers. Our office size will eventually shrink as we have less paper to store. We already scan all medical records we receive, and we send most correspondence by e-mail. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission now has all documents filed electronically through their CompFile system.

In the years since Harold Katz and Irv Friedman became partners in 1954, we have seen the advent of the fax machine and computers for typing letters and then for storing data. We have gone from fishing in our pockets for change to call a client to relay a settlement offer to making that call on a cell phone and then texting or emailing the terms to our secretary in the office.

We strive to retain the accessibility of the old-fashioned country lawyer who will meet you in your town, at your union hall or even in your home while keeping current and using technology to make life better for our clients.

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Sometimes, in marketing material, an auto accident attorney might advertise a commitment to getting you “everything you deserve.” That may refer to things like seeking forms of damages beyond just lost wages and medical expenses, like pain-and-suffering or punitive damages. If you are someone who was injured in a workplace accident, you also have a strong need for an aggressive Chicago injury attorney to help you get “everything you deserve” as, in your case, it may involve much more than pleading alternate forms of damages.

In your workplace accident lawsuit, reaching an outcome where you get a full recovery may involve doing the right “digging” to spot all the people or entities who, despite being less than obvious, still owed you a duty and are still liable to you.

Take, for example, J.F.’s unfortunate forklift accident at work. J.F. was significantly injured when, as she operated her forklift, “a storage rack filled with merchandise collapsed” onto her and her forklift, causing her injuries.

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Here in Chicago and throughout Illinois, construction workers are faced with a variety of health and safety risks. Some are inevitable parts of the job. Others, though, occur because someone was negligent and that negligence led to a worker getting hurt. When that happens to you and those who caused your harm were someone other than your employer, you may be able to bring a lawsuit and recover substantial compensation in court. To find out more about the legal options you have, take prompt action by reaching out to a knowledgeable Chicago workplace accident attorney.

R.G. was one of those workers where negligence allegedly caused his construction injury. He was working at a construction site in Chicago relocating sprinkler heads and was entering a freight elevator to retrieve some equipment when another worker mistakenly closed the elevator door too soon.

The door struck R.G. in the head. The impact was so substantial that it knocked R.G.’s hardhat off his head and broke the suspension band inside his hardhat (which inflicted a scar on the man’s forehead.) That day was the last day that R.G. worked, and he was, at the time of his deposition, awaiting neck surgery.

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Flight attendants encounter a wide spectrum of passengers on the job. Regrettably, those sometimes include troubled people, including people with substance issues and those with mental health issues. Either of these groups can be particularly prone to violent outbursts during a flight, especially longer-haul flights. If you’re a flight attendant who’s been hurt by an out-of-control passenger, then you may be entitled to take certain legal actions and recover compensation, so you should make sure you don’t delay in contacting a knowledgeable Chicago injury attorney to discuss your situation.

Recently, multiple news sources covered the story of a Newark-to-Miami United Airlines flight that diverted to Charleston, South Carolina due to a passenger’s violent outburst. The passenger allegedly became agitated and then attacked, biting one man’s ear, striking another in the nose (and possibly breaking it), and hitting a third person in the temple, according to USA Today.

Many flight attendants, including O’Hare-based United and American Airlines crews and Midway-based Southwest crews, likely read this story with a grim sense of familiarity, having their own “horror” stories of violent passengers. Injuries inflicted by violent passengers stand as the dark flip side to the glamorous life that many people often associate with being a flight attendant.

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Workers across Chicagoland and all of Illinois have always faced the challenge of dealing with workplaces that may provide inadequate safety protections. Today, though, workers face a new challenge: employers that fail to provide them with the level of protection against novel coronavirus that the law says those workers are entitled to receive. If your employer isn’t following the prescribed guidance and is placing you at risk, the legal system here in Illinois may offer an opportunity to recover much-needed relief, so be sure to reach out to an experienced Chicago workplace injury attorney right away.

One recent case that offers some important good news comes from right here in Cook County, Risk and Insurance reported. The workers who brought that lawsuit were a group of fast-food employees who worked for McDonald’s. According to the workers, their employer required them to work in close proximity to potentially infected coworkers, contrary to the six-foot social distancing space recommended by the CDC. Additionally, the workers alleged that mask-wearing protocols were not being followed at their workplaces.

Already, the workers have cleared two important hurdles, according to the report. First, the workers defeated the employer’s request for summary judgment in its favor that would have thrown out the lawsuit. The judge stated that, “even if a remedy could be found in administrative bodies,” that doesn’t mean that the workers could not pursue, and potentially win, their case.

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Chicago issued an emergency travel order which began at 12:01 a.m. Monday and will remain in effect until further notice.[i]  This means that anyone who has contact with one of fifteen states (listed in the travel order) and enters into Chicago will need to quarantine for 14 days.  This applies to those individuals visiting Chicago or returning to Chicago from visiting those states.

States included in the order are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.

The rationale for this emergency travel order is that these States are seeing significant increases in COVID-19 cases and infection rates.  Some of these states are reporting record numbers.  What this means for Chicago-area workers that revolve around or relate to those types of industries that deal with interstate travel is that they now might have a higher probability of contracting COVID-19 then they were weeks or months ago.

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We have been fighting  for real clients with real injuries against real employers or real insurance companies. The legal system  is still only partially open with  very few cases being set for trial. Most  justice is virtual and this is  causing real difficulties for our clients.

In the past three months this  lawyer has taken two depositions via Zoom.  Doctors were cross examined on  the computer.  This lawyer  has covered the Rockford status call for  the firm’s cases. This lawyer has had four pretrials where the arbitrator discussed the case with the lawyers and attempted to get the employer to offer more and get us to take less in  an effort to have the parties reach a compromise and avoid trial. These pre trials were done though Webex,  which, like Zoom, allows  parties to see each other and  talk  with each  other even though they are  not  in  the same room. This lawyer has also had four Social Security Disability hearings.  These  were held by telephone as there have been no in person hearings  since  early March.

These virtual hearings are not  perfect but they are much  better than  doing nothing. Any way we can  move our clients cases forward is good.

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You have a lot of things that will inevitably worry you after you’ve suffered an injury at work. You may be worried about losing income. You may be worried about finding the right doctor to get the diagnosis you need. You may be worried about collecting all the paperwork you need for a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. One thing that you should not have to be worried about – but too many workers do face – is retaliation by your employer. If your employer does that, it may have violated the law and the retaliation itself may be a basis upon which you can recover compensation. An experienced Chicago workers’ compensation attorney can help you look at your situation and identify all of the legal ways that you might be able to obtain much-needed compensation.

An accident at a milk processing plant here in the greater Chicago area (and its aftermath) is an example of that kind of retaliation, and it resulted in a sizable damages award, according to a Northwest Herald report. R.J., a worker at the plant, suffered a neck injury in the fall of 2009. The employer’s doctor placed R.J. on lifting, pushing and pulling restrictions. R.J. continued on light duty until he took medical leave in early 2011 after losing strength in his left arm. R.J. did not work at the plant again. He was terminated in early 2016.

An employer can impermissibly retaliate against an employee injured on the job in many ways. For example, if you are injured in a workplace accident, you are entitled to file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits and to do so free from punishment by your employer. If your employer takes adverse action against you for filing for workers’ compensation benefits, and you can prove that your workers’ comp claim triggered that action, then you can recover damages for retaliation.

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The short answer to these questions is: “Yes, you can still possibly file a workers’ compensation.” It will be highly dependent on the facts of that specific case, but you can still file a claim if you met the criteria. This is where an experienced attorney can help and guide you with your possible claims. Understanding a few important provisions of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act is vital to preserving your rights if you’ve been laid off or furloughed because of Covid-19. Or, even if you have an older claim that you did not want to pursue at the time but now want to see if you are still entitled to compensation.

How long do I have to file a claim?

Even if you are no longer working for your employer, you are legally entitled to file a workers’ compensation claim within three (3) years from the date of the injury/accident, or two (2) years from the date of last compensation received because of the injury, whichever is longer. 820 ILCS 305/6(d) Illinois General Assembly. Outside of these time periods, you may find yourself barred from receiving any compensation for that work accident and injury. However, it is important to understand that just because you may still have the ability to file a workers’ compensation claim, there is no guarantee you will be entitled to benefits if you do not take the proper steps in preserving your case.

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When a family decides to admit their loved one into a nursing home, it is done with trust that their loved one will receive the best care, treatment, and supervision. This level of understanding and trust come about because nursing homes supervise and coordinate the care and treatment with extensive staff to give an elderly person independence that they would not otherwise have at home along with the best outcome for their individual health. Unfortunately, many nursing homes provide understaffed facilities that commonly lead to mismanaged treatment. Most times, elder neglect leading to sickness and death are the fault of the management at the nursing home and not the fault of the staff. Before the Coronavirus struck our communities, the usual medical errors at nursing homes included over and under medicating persons, understaffing, and inadequate training. As nursing home deaths continue to rise, many families are wondering if the loss of their loved one was preventable. In most cases, it is believed that the nursing home not only could have prevented the death, but they also acted negligently by law and need to be held responsible for the loss and harm caused. Various nursing homes around the state have had massive outbreaks leading to almost half of Illinois death cases originating at the very facilities designed to protect their residents. The list of nursing homes across Chicago, Cicero, Niles, Skokie, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Des Plaines, Bolingbrook, Norrdige, and Park Ridge. (Source Chicago Tribune) Chicago nursing home negligence lawyers believe that the reason for many of these deaths is a system error from the top down at the nursing home.

Perhaps the most common type of nursing home neglect comes from improper hygiene. While normally this would involve simply checking up on a loved one or simply making sure that a person was adequately bathed, the Coronavirus is exposing a level of unhygienic practices that are simply unacceptable, including failing to make sure that residences are kept safe from sick visitors and failing to screen the staff who have Covid symptoms. This is not only something that is easy to do, it is crucial to account for when taking care of elderly people since the Coronavirus will lie dormant, without any symptoms, for days and even 1-2 weeks. Once symptoms start to show, it may be too late for anyone in contact with a sick person. (Source Chicago Suntimes) Another common problem at nursing homes is that nursing home owners and corporations cut costs and have left their staff without adequate personal protective equipment, which not only exposes the staff to Coronavirus, but it spreads the virus to many other patients. For this reason, nurses and CNA’s are filing workers compensation claims with Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers for disability benefits and awards or settlements. Unlike workers’ compensation claims, a lawsuit against a nursing home that put profits over people allows for even further damages to compensate loved ones, including funeral expenses and loss of society and companionship.

A wrongful death claim may be made against a nursing home when your loved one’s passing was the result of the business’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional wrongdoing. Were it not for the nursing home owner’s systematic neglect, your loved one would not have died. You may have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit if you were the elderly individual’s spouse, child, or parent. The compensation often is divided among a spouse and children. If there is no surviving spouse, each child can bring a wrongful death claim. Before a family can move on from the loss caused by negligence or abuse, the usually first want to obtain answers and compensation. Every family member has the right to seek compensation and every family member has the right to get legal advice about a wrongful death or survival claim. If there is some evidence that the nursing home breached its duty of care toward your family member, Katz Friedman is prepared to help you hold the facility responsible. You may call us at anytime at our toll free number, 1-800-444-1525. We answer our telephone 24 hours a day. Chicago wrongful death lawyers at Katz Friedman are currently investigating Covid-19 cases on behalf of families. When making decisions regarding a injuries and death from Covid-related negligence at a nursing home, it is wise to consult an attorney to protect your interests because it is clear that the nursing homes already have their lawyers working on this issue to defeat your claim and help the nursing home get away with their system failure. If you or someone you know wants to investigate a nursing home for a death related to COVID-19, the attorneys and staff of Katz Friedman are here to help with obtaining proper compensation.

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