In a fairly recent case the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission awarded an injured worker future medical benefits for life. This is usually not news worthy except in this case the injured worker as a result of his work injury had to undergo a splenectomy and as a result he had a decreased immune system that made him susceptible to a serious infection.
If he obtained a fever for what ever reason, even if it was wholly unrelated to his work injury such as a cold or the flu, and his fever climbed to over 100.5 degrees he would have to immediately take antibiotics and go to the nearest emergency room. He would then be admitted for at least two days or until the infection could be broughtunder control. The Commission held the respondent employer would be liable for all that medical expense associated with the hospital stay.
We represent Illinois workers compensation clients from Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, McHenry, Woodstock, Crystal Lake, Lakewood, Huntley, Harvard, Hebron, Carpentersville, Cary, Fox River Grove, Elgin, Richmond, Marengo, Spring Grove, Wonder Lake, Barrington, Lake County and Kane County.
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.
What happend if you are injured at work while outside of Illinois, Does the Illinois Workers Compensation Act apply to you ?
Illinois has jurisdiction over any work injury claim if 1) the contract for hire was made in Illinois 2) if the accident occurred in Illinois or 3) if the injured worker’s employment was principally located in Illinois.
How do you determine if the contract for hire occurred in Illinois? The contract for hire is made were the last act necessary for the formation of the contract occurred. An example is when an Illinois resident is offered a job over the telephone to work in another state. If All the paperwork to work at the out of state job is done via fax at the workers house in Illinois then the Illinois Workers Compensation act would apply. If they same worker was required to travel to the out of state employer and fill out employment forms and take and pass a drug test then the last act necessary for the contract of employment occurred out of sate and the worker would not enjoy the Protection of the Illinois Workers Compensation Act.
Every employer in the State of Illinois is required by law to purchase worker’s compensation insurance coverage for their employees. The State of Illinois has formulated an insurance compliance division, they have hired investigators to ensure that every employer has worker’s compensation insurance. Failure of an employer to carry worker’s compensation insurance subjects that employer to stiff financial penalties.
You can easily check to determine if your employer has worker’s compensation insurance by visiting the Illinois Worker’s Compensation website at www.state.il.us/agency/iic/ and then click on the right-hand side of the webpage “Employer Insurance Coverage Search”. From there you can follow the prompts to determine if your employer does, in fact, carry worker’s compensation insurance and learn the identity of the insurance carrier.
If you have been injured at work, the Illinois Workers Compensation Act provides you benefits such as payment of all your related medical bills, two thirds of your wages, as you heal from your work injury and a permanent disability settlement when you fully recover from your injury. This is great if your employer has workers compensation insurance, but what happens if your employer does not have insurance? Until recently your only option was to file a claim, try the case and try to collect against the employer. Usually if the employer did not carry workers compensation insurance the likely hood of recovery was slim to none, furthermore it was hard if not impossible find an attorney to take your case because of the amount of work involved and the chance of recovery was so small.
Recently, the Illinois legislature passed the Injured Workers’ Benefit Fund. That fund will pay out in a one time benefit, the total amount of all your benefits if ou can prove at trial your entire case and the fact that the employer was not insured. The Illinois trial lawyers association had there annual workers compensation seminar and provided the members with the formula and format on how to bring a claim against the fund so you can recover actual dollars instead of just a piece of paper stating that you obtained a judgement.
Attorney David N. Rechenberg is a member of the Illinois Trial lawyers Association and he was at the seminar and he can help you recover money if our have been hurt at work and your employer did not have workers compensation insurance coverage. He can file a claim against the Illinois Injured Workers’Benefit Fund for you !
April 22, 2010 10:35 am | 
