Matt Walker

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American Coal Company v. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission was published on November 16, 2020 by the Appellate Court’s Workers’ Compensation Division. The claimant, Robert Deere, filed a claim for benefits under the Workers’ Occupational Disease Act against his employer, American Coal Company, for injuries to his lungs, heart, pulmonary system, and respiratory tracts allegedly…

Yesterday was Veteran’s Day. As a country, we owe a great debt to those who serve and have served in the U.S. Armed Forces both at home and overseas. But there is another group of people that haven’t yet been acknowledged with a special day to honor their contributions to our military efforts abroad. These…

Employees such as truck drivers and flight attendants often receive per diem. Per diem is defined as: 

 …a specific amount of money that an organization gives an individual, typically an employee, per day to cover living expenses when travelling on the employer’s business. A per diem payment can cover part or all of…

Never a dull moment. Recently, in the case of Marquita McDonald v. Symphony Bronzeville, LLC et. al., the Illinois Appellate Court was called upon to determine whether the exclusivity provisions of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act bar a claim for statutory damages under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act where an employer is alleged…

On October 16, 2020, the 2nd District of the Illinois Appellate Court issued its decision in the case of West Bend Mutual Insurance Company v. TRRS Corporation, et. al. The decision addressed a consolidated interlocutory appeal concerning the propriety of a circuit court’s order staying the proceedings on a claim filed before the Illinois Workers’…

In this blog post, we will continue to discuss the issues surrounding average weekly wage. In the case of Illinois-Iowa Blacktop, Inc. v. Industrial Commission, the court acknowledged that the special considerations accorded construction and seasonal workers due to the unique nature of their work have long been recognized in Illinois.  For example, some …

The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act states that bonuses are not to be included in the average weekly wage.  But the courts have found there is a distinction between incentive-based pay, which an employee received in consideration for specific work performed as a matter of contractual right, and a bonus, which an employee receives for no …

On October 5, 2020, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released Version 3.2 of the WCMSA Reference Guide. CMS identified the following changes:

  • To define the major medical centers that the Workers’ Compensation Review Contractor (WCRC) uses to estimate future medical expenses in proposed WCMSA’s, a list of major medical centers, organized by

…

Jurisdiction is a court’s power to decide a case or issue a decree. Remember that the Commission is a state agency, not a court. In a workers’ compensation claim, jurisdiction relates to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission’s power to decide a case or issue a decree.  

The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act gives the Commission jurisdiction …

In 1903 and 1904, shortly before the opening of the St. Paul Mine in Cherry, Illinois, the state passed child labor laws that pulled twenty-two hundred boys aged eleven to fifteen from the mines. 

During the recovery efforts following the Cherry Mine Disaster, the chief state factory inspector found out that two young boys were …