In a recent Illinois appellate court case the court held that an injured worker was entitled to TTD benefits after he was laid off when working light duty. In the case the petitioner was injured at work and was working for the respondent light duty. The employer laid off the petitioner due to lack of work or economic reasons. The respondent insurance company refused to pay the TTD benefits when the injured worker was laid off. The injured worker fought the case and the arbitrator found in his favor and awarded him TTD benefits. The commission, the trial court and the appellate court affirmed the arbitrators decision in awarding benefits. The court noted the law is clear that neither the ability to do light duty work or not getting medical benefits prohibits the injured worker from getting TTD benefits.
In the case, the injured worker attempted to find work with in his restrictions, and kept track of his attempts to find work. His attempts to find a nother job was unsucessful. Thus the injured worker proved that theree was no work avaliable for him with his work restrictions. As a side note the arbitrator awarded the injured worker penalties for the insurance carriers bad faith in failing to pay benefits.
What is the value of a work related carpal tunnel surgery case in Illinois? As with all workers compensation cases the answer depends on the facts of each case. The permanency award will vary if the injured hand was the dominant hand or the non dominant hand. In 2006 through 2008 the vast majority of carpal tunnel work related injuries with surgery that went to trial had an award of 20% loss of use of a hand. The cases were higher or lower depending upon if the person had any lifting restrictions of if the injured worker had a good recovery and was able to return to her regular job. Most of the reported decisions the carpal tunnel release surgery was done arthroscopicly rather than with an open procedure.
In several reported cases that were tried in Illinois the injured worker also had an ulnar nerve release or a lateral epicondylectomy. In those cases the petitioner recovered more than 20% loss of use of the hand.
The Illinois appellate court recently held in the case of Economy Packing v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission 387 Ill. App. 3d 283 that an illegal alien worker is entitled to receive Illinois Workers Compensation Benefits if he is injured on the job. In that case the court knew that the illegal alien used false documents to obtain the job,and by doing so did in fact violate the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act makes it a crime for an employer to knowingly hire an undocumented alien. The act requires employers to verify that a newly hired person is authorized to work in the United States. It also requires the employer to fire the alien if the employer finds out the employee is illegal or becomes undocumented.
The court in the Economy case awarded substantial benefits to an illegal alien who falsified documents to get a job.
In Illinois if you are injured at work you should be entitled to benefits under the Illiniois Workers Compensation Act.
May 18, 2009 3:53 pm | 
