Spiros Law, P.C. Archives

The Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court’s Workers’ Compensation Commission Division rejected a claim brought forward by Michael Durbin on Sunday, July 17. Durbin is a former employee of the Chicago-based global food processing company Archer Daniels Midland. After retiring in 2003 at age 48 after working at the factory for 30 years, Durbin said he… Read More

According to an Illinois Policy article, the Illinois workers’ compensation program is outdated and in need of a revamp. For example, medical providers can charge 200% to 300% more for a procedure under workers’ compensation than it would cost under Medicare. These fee schedules increase expenses to employers while patients are over-treated, causing them to miss more days… Read More

Illinois Governor Bruce Vincent Rauner’s “Turnaround Agenda”, introduced in 2015, seeks to reduce workers’ compensation rates by following a more stringent causation standard that would require employees to provide evidence that their injuries were caused by a job-related activity, provide a strict definition of a traveling employee, and lower medical fee schedule payments, among others.… Read More

As compensation for dangers faced on the job, workers have the assurance of incurring workers’ compensation benefits should they become injured in their line of work. However, since 2003, over 30 states have approved measures that have “reduced benefits for injured workers, created hurdles for medical care, or made it more difficult for workers to qualify,” reports from… Read More

In 2011, truck driver Steve Dunteman was performing his job duties when he got a blister on his foot. He lanced the blister, but later his wound got infected and he lost his toe, in large part because of his diabetes. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission ruled that Dunteman should not receive workers’ compensation benefits because his diabetes and… Read More

Republicans in the Illinois legislature are saying that the new Illinois budget deal is close at hand, but several matters are still under debate, including the state’s policy on workers’ compensation. Wade Keats, owner of metal stamping service provider Keats Manufacturing Co., said workers’ compensation insurance is costing the company over a quarter of a million dollars… Read More

A loophole in Illinois’ workers’ compensation system is allegedly being used by Illinois physicians for personal gain. The system allows for a process called ‘physician dispensing’, which allows Illinois doctors to prescribe medicine to injured workers, as well as sell it for profit. When given the right to profit by selling drugs, doctors prescribe 3.2 times the… Read More

The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has declared that a 21-year-old temporary worker’s fingers might not have been amputated had South Elgin, Illinois-based metal manufacturer Custom Aluminum Products installed proper safety guards to keep workers’ hands out of the metal press’ danger zone. OSHA inspectors investigated an accident after it occurred on Nov.… Read More

The First District Appellate Court on Tuesday, March 8 ruled in favor of the employer in a case that covers the application of the exclusive remedy provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act in claims alleging intentional torts. In Locasto v. City of Chicago, fireman Locasto filed a civic claim seeking damages for an intentional tort… Read More

Monday, February 22, Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R) announced at the City Club of Chicago that the workers’ compensation system might be an area where the House and Senate can find “common ground” to get over an impasse that has left the state without a budget for some time now. This conclusion was… Read More