Articles Tagged with Workers Compensation

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The impact of the Novel Coronavirus is in its early stages and the toll on families has been devastating. What’s more, the degree to which the health care industry is suffering from this illness is now being felt locally. Within the past week, a 35 year old registered nurse died at Amita Health Adventist Bolingbrook Medical Center from cardiac arrest caused by Covid-19. (source Via SunTimes) Like many health care professionals falling ill, the fact that she worked at a nursing home only brought greater risk to her health and well being. In fact, the Meadowbrook Manor nursing home in Bolingbrook is one of many nursing homes around Chicago caring for patients suffering from Covid-19 infections. Similarly, a CNA fell ill from Covid and died at age 35 at Stroger Hosptial. The name of the nursing home where she worked is Mado Health Center (Uptown), which has at least 46 Covid cases. (Source via WGN) Illinois nursing homes are responsible for over 1,000 infections from the Cornavirus. Among them, Symphony of Joliet, Bria Forest Edge, and Alden Terrace in northwest suburban McHenry have over 100 a piece. Families of patients and employees at these facilities want to know when the preventable harm will stop.

The death toll continues to mount at other facilities like the Westchester Health and Rehab facility, Elevate Care North in Chicago, and Windsor Park in west suburban Carol Stream. (source via WGN)

Based on the dangerous conditions at nursing homes, many workers had planned strikes to protect their rights which; in turn, eventually protects their patients health. (source via ABC) It is expected that more nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, CNA’s and various health care professionals are going to hire lawyers and file claims against their employers for workers’ compensation benefits like disability pay, medical bills, and a settlement or award for permanency. Many health care professionals are extremely worried about their ability to work to the degree they did before contracting Covid since many of the permanent problems involve extreme fatigue from heart, lung, and internal organ damage. Fortunately, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act protects these rights by providing monetary awards for future lost wages and even in the most extreme cases, death benefits for families.

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An article in the New York Times on April 22 noted that “outbreaks [of Covid-19] are mounting in processing plants and factories in Midwestern towns.” (Source)

We have been representing injured workers from these plants, factories and towns for over 50 years. We have seen ancient machines that were built without thought of the safety of the workers who operated those machines give way to more modern machines that may create an incrementally safer workplace but have automated away many of the jobs the grandparents and parents of today’s workers used to hold. We have seen jobs that were brutal and repetitive become modified to allow rotation so workers do not do exactly the same thing for their entire shift.

This is part of the cycle of manufacturing. When things are new they are engineered for profit and efficiency. After many workers suffer and many dollars are paid in claims the companies re engineer and try to come up with processes that are safer for union workers and less costly for the executives and insurance companies.

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At the end of 2017, United Airlines (now known as “United Continental Holdings, Inc.” after the merger with Continental Airlines) announced that it would be issuing each of its flight attendants a new Tumi brand bag. In March 2018, United Airlines began requiring its flights attendants use the newly issued two-wheel or four- wheel “rollaboard” Tumi brand bags.

Unfortunately, the transition to the new Tumi brand bags has created numerous issues for United Airlines flight attendants. Almost immediately, United Airlines flight attendants began noticing that these bags are awkward, hard to maneuver, and in some circumstances, even dangerous to use.

As flight attendants already often need to be performing physically strenuous tasks, moving quickly, working in tight and awkward spaces, and lifting, pushing, and pulling heaving luggage, the additional requirement to use these awkward and uncomfortable bags is unfortunately causing injuries to flight attendants’ wrists, arms, shoulder, backs, necks, and legs.

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What do I do when I am injured at work?

You know your job and you know what to do when things are running smoothly and when things go wrong. However, when you get injured you may be unsure about what to do and what to say. Here are some helpful hints for figuring out what to do when you get injured at work.

1. Report everything. If you get hurt at work you should report the accident to your superiors as soon as possible. Let them know exactly what happened and when it happened. It is easy when you have a specific injury, “I picked up a box and felt a sharp pain in my low back.” It is harder when the injury is due to the repetitive and forceful activities that you do at work. If you have pain and think it is work related let somebody know about it and see a doctor. You will need to report the claim to your employer as soon as a doctor tells you that your pain may be work related. Reporting every injury does not mean you are going to a doctor or hiring a lawyer every time. You are documenting that something happened. If you get hurt on Thursday but do not report it until the following Monday your employer may question your claim. Report the accident as soon as possible.

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Safety remains an important issue for teachers, teacher’s assistants and school workers. Numerous injuries occur while teachers and school employees strive to instruct and provide for the safety and well-being of students. Although the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act is a law set up to benefit and provide relief for the injured worker, skilled workers’ compensation attorneys familiar and experienced with school related injuries are frequently needed to ensure the injureds’ rights are protected. Katz, Friedman, one of the few law firms, approved by the Illinois Education Association (IEA) to handle work injures on behalf of its members has successfully represented the injured throughout Illinois including employees of Elgin’s School District U-46, Rockford School District No. 205, St. Charles Community Unit School District No. 303, and many more. We are proud to report two recent trial victories on behalf of injured teaching professionals.

In the first case, the injured, a physical education teacher, suffered an injury while teaching her class. The teacher was demonstrating stretches and exercises to her students when she injured her back. The teacher sought medical treatment immediately and was given work restrictions by her doctor. The school district stated that they could not accommodate her restrictions and would not allow her to return to work. The school district also refused to pay her off work benefits, pay for her continued medical treatment and refused to allow her to come back to work in any capacity until all of her restrictions were removed. The school district based their denial of workers compensation benefits on the notion that “demonstrating exercises to students was not an essential function of a PE teacher’s job duties.” The school district’s refusal to allow the teacher to return to work lasted five months. During this time, the injured teacher did not receive any off work benefits as provided under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. Katz Friedman attorneys fought for the injured teacher at trial before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. The Arbitrator ruled in favor of the teacher and agreed with all of Katz Friedman’s trial arguments. The injured teacher was awarded full off work benefits, payment of all medical bills including repayment of her out-of-pocket medical expenses of over $1,000.00 and a substantial award for the permanent partial disability caused by the back injury.

In the second case, Katz Friedman attorneys received a favorable trial decision where a special education teacher’s assistant sustained a concussion after a student punched her in the head. The trial award was five times greater than the amount offered for settlement by the school district. At trial, the school district attempted to minimize the injured teacher’s assistant’s symptoms claiming they were not related to the concussion injury. The school district’s argument was supported by a doctor they retained for the litigation. Katz Friedman attorneys were successful in convincing the Arbitrator that the medical evidence and treating doctor’s opinions were more credible than the doctor retained by the school district. Although there is still time for the school district to appeal this very recent decision, Katz Friedman attorneys remain confident that the results will be upheld.

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While workers’ compensation claims involving traumatic or repetitive injuries may be fairly straightforward, claims involving occupational diseases are often complicated. The Illinois Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act gives Illinois employees the right to seek workers’ compensation benefits for occupational diseases caused by their jobs. However, identifying these illnesses and proving they are work-related is not always easy. 

Occupational diseases may be caused by exposure to chemicals, heat, radiation, noise and other environmental conditions. When many people think of occupational diseases, they think of conditions such as lung cancer, but conditions that are not usually considered diseases, such as hearing loss, also qualify. Obtaining compensation for occupational diseases can be difficult because many of these conditions can arise from other causes, such as personal habits and environmental exposure.

Determining disease origins

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Every year, many Illinois workers incur injuries that allow them to receive compensation under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. An employee is able to acquire benefits under this legislation regardless of whether the accident was the fault of the employee or the employer. However, in some cases, the fault lies not within either of these parties but with another entity or person. When this happens, the injured employee can file a third-party lawsuit against this person or entity.

Examples of third-party lawsuits

There are several different situations in which an employee could suffer injuries that would justify filing a third-party lawsuit.  Some of these include:

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A person does not have to have an accident or suffer some trauma in order to sustain an injury. There is a large group of medical conditions, known as repetitive injuries, which are the result of the wear and tear on the body caused by repetitive motion or activity. Common symptoms of these injuries include pain, weakness, stiffness and numbness.

Repetitive injuries, also referred to as musculoskeletal disorders, can be caused by any number of activities. While they are regularly seen in athletes and musicians, repetitive injuries are also common in the workplace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that these disorders made up 34 percent of all work-related injury and illness cases in 2012.

Types of repetitive injuries

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A mental illness is a disease that causes mild to severe disturbances in a person’s thoughts and behaviors. There are over 200 types of classified mental illnesses. However, some of the most common include depression, bipolar disorder, dementia and anxiety.  Mental illness symptoms vary by person and may include changes in mood, personal habits and personality. 

Mental illness’ effect on workers 

Mental illnesses can interfere with an Illinois employee’s capacity to perform the daily requirements of their job. For example, a mental illness may affect an employee’s ability to concentrate, handle pressure, multi-task, remain energized throughout the day, interact with others, respond to changes and filter out distracting sights, sounds and stimuli.

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Injured workers often have a number of questions and concerns following a workplace accident or on-the-job injury. An injured worker might be confused about whether they are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits even if they were partly or entirely responsible for the accident. A union member may wonder whether how his or her benefits are affected by the collective bargaining agreement. And a travelling employee may not think that his or her out-of-state injury is covered by workers’ compensation.

At Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca, our dedicated Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers focus on helping injured workers get the benefits and compensation that they deserve. We have extensive experience working with clients throughout the state, across the country, and around the world. We are dedicated to delivering superior client service and maximizing our client’s recovery in the following ways:

  • Explaining your legal rights. Injured workers are often hesitant to file a workers’ compensation claim for a number of reasons, but there is no reason to not file a workers’ compensation claim. Workers’ compensation laws can be confusing and the procedures for filing a workers’ compensation claim may seem intimidating, but we will explain your legal rights to you so that you can make an informed decision.
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