Navigating a work injury can be complicated, especially if you are not familiar with Illinois’s workers’ compensation laws. Often injured employees think they are getting workers’ compensation but, in fact, receive an unfair, watered-down version of their benefits. For this reason, it is important to consult an experienced workers’ compensation attorney who can help to ensure that you obtain the full and fair recovery to which you are entitled.

What Is Workers’ Compensation?

Workers’ compensation is a system of benefits provided by Illinois law to most employees who experience work-related injuries or occupational diseases. Generally, these benefits are paid regardless of who was at fault for the accident. Put simply, workers’ compensation is a way for injured employees to get money for work injuries without filing a lawsuit.

Instead, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission acts as an impartial administrative court system and resolves disputed workers’ compensation claims between injured employees and employers.

What Injuries Are Covered?

The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act covers all job-related injuries, including:

• Injuries caused by the repetitive use of a body part at work;
• A stroke or heart attack caused by work;
• Other physical problems caused by work; and
• Pre-existing conditions made worse by work.

In order to protect your rights, it is important that you notify your employer of a work injury as soon as possible, but no later than 45 days after the accident.

What Medical Benefits Are Covered?

Workers’ compensation pays for all medical care that is reasonably necessary to heal from a work injury. Additionally, workers’ compensation includes benefits if you are:

• Off work recovering from an injury, known as Temporary Total Disability (TTD);
• At work on light duty while recovering from an injury, known as Temporary Partial Disability (TPD);
• Permanently disabled or disfigured but can still work, known as Permanent Partial Disability (PPD); or
• Made permanently unable to work, known as Permanent Total Disability (PTD).

Who Pays For My Workers’ Compensation Benefits?

By law, employers must pay for the cost of your workers’ compensation benefits either by buying workers’ compensation insurance or getting permission to self-insure. In other words, your employer cannot charge you for any part of the insurance premium or benefits.

Who Chooses My Medical Provider?

Generally speaking, the employee may choose the doctor or hospital where he or she receives treatment. However, if your employer has joined a Preferred Provider Program (PPP), your choice of provider will be limited to two physicians who are part of this selected network. If your employer does not have a PPP, then you can choose to go to any two medical providers.

It is also possible for your employer to order that you be examined by their own doctor. If this is the case, your employer must give you money to cover the cost of the exam and it must be at a time and place that is reasonably convenient for you. But keep in mind: you do NOT, under any circumstances, have to accept treatment from your employer’s doctor.

Protecting Your Legal Rights

When dealing with the ramifications of a work injury, it is important to have workers’ compensation attorneys who are aware of current Illinois law on your issues and who will take the time to discuss them with you. At Kurasch & Klein, Ltd., we encourage you to call your lawyer at any time with questions about the law and about your case. We will explain the law, take the time to answer calls, and fight for your rights. With over 70 years of combined experience, our workers’ compensation lawyers can provide you with the experienced representation you need.

Let us fight for your rights, so you can focus on recovering from your injury with the peace of mind of knowing that you will get the benefits you deserve.

(a) A physician licensed to practice medicine in all of its branches preparing a permanent partial disability impairment report shall report the level of impairment in writing. The report shall include an evaluation of medically defined and professionally appropriate measurements of impairment that include, but are not limited to: loss of range of motion; loss of strength; measured atrophy of tissue mass consistent with the injury; and any other measurements that establish the nature and extent of the impairment. The most current edition of the American Medical Association’s “Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment” shall be used by the physician in determining the level of impairment.

(b) In determining the level of permanent partial disability, the Commission shall base its determination on the following factors: (i) the reported level of impairment pursuant to subsection (a); (ii) the occupation of the injured employee; (iii) the age of the employee at the time of the injury; (iv) the employee’s future earning capacity; and (v) evidence of disability corroborated by the treating medical records. No single enumerated factor shall be the sole determinant of disability. In determining the level of disability, the relevance and weight of any factors used in addition to the level of impairment as reported by the physician must be explained in a written order.(Source: P.A. 97-18, eff. 6-28-11.)

Timeline

Prior to discussing your potential claim with a personal injury attorney, it is valuable to put together a timeline of key events.  Your attorney will almost certainly ask you the following questions:

The Survival Act of Illinois is actually found within the Probate Act.   Section 27-6 (Actions which survive) states, in part, that  in addition to the actions which survive by the common law, the following also survive: …actions to recover damages for an injury to the person(except slander and libel), actions to recovery damages for an injury to real or personal property.

Medical expenses are defined as the reasonable expense of necessary medical care, treatment, and services received and the present cash value of reasonable expenses of medical care, treatment and services reasonably certain to be received in the future.

Until to The Animal Control Act, the Common Law required that the owner have prior knowledge of the animal’s dangerous propensities.  The Act eliminated the “one-bite” rule.  Prior to The Animal Control Act, the plaintiff was required to prove that the dog owner either knew, or was negligent in not knowing the dog had a propensity to injure people.  The Act codified the law that it is the person in control of the animal at that moment that must control the animal.

As a result of the Statute, an owner is liable when the animal either attacks OR injures any person.  While the public generally thinks about dog bites, an aggressive violent action is not required.  Any action, which results in injury, is covered by the Statute.   Dog owners have been held liable in situations where a dog chased a bike rider causing the rider to fall, when a dog runs into the road and causes a car wreck, and when a dog greeting a person knocks the person over.

First and foremost, if you are injured on a city sidewalk, you must act quickly.  The Statute of Limitations, or time period for filing a lawsuit, is shortened when the defendant is a governmental entity.  Typically, in Illinois, your personal injury claim must be filed within one year from the date of the injury, or it will be barred, meaning that the law will prevent you from filing your claim.  This does not mean, however, that you have one year to find an attorney.  There is a great deal of investigation and preparation that should be done before filing a lawsuit, much of which takes time.  You want to allow your attorney enough time for them to provide you with the best legal representation possible.  The sooner you contact an attorney, the better.

What should you do if you are injured?

Pecuniary Damages include money, goods, and services received by the next of kin of the deceased. Damages can include loss of consortium by the surviving spouse.  In the event of loss of a child the damages can include the loss of the minor child’s society by the parents.  Unlike damages claims for physical injuries, for a Wrongful Death pecuniary damages from the death of an adult, in determining pecuniary loss, a jury may consider the evidence of the following:

• What money, benefits, goods, and services the decedent customarily contributed in the past;
• What money benefits, goods, and services the decedent was likely to have contributed in the future;
• The decedent’s age, sex, health, physical and mental characteristics;
• The decedents habits of industry, sobriety, and thrift;
• The decedent’s occupational abilities;
• The grief, sorrow, and mental suffering of the next of kin;
• The relationship between the lineal next of kin and the decedent

Where there are surviving children pecuniary value includes the instruction, moral training, and superintendence of education the children would have received from the decedent.

Wrongful Death claims are subject to a Statute of Limitations, meaning a lawsuit must be filed within the required time limit. The Wrongful Death Act requires that the lawsuit be filed within 2 years after the death in most cases.  Effective January 1, 2017, an Amendment to the Act will become effective reflecting the language that such actions against a defendant arising from a crime committed by the defendant in whose name an escrow account was established under the “Criminal Victims’ Escrow Account Act” the lawsuit shall be filed within 2 years after the establishment of such account.  An action may be brought within 5 years after the date of death if the death is the result of violent intentional conduct or within one year after the disposition of the criminal case under specific criminal conduct charges. PA 99-587.

When dealing with the loss of a loved one, it is essential that the next of kin have caring, knowledgeable, and thoughtful lawyers, who will answer when you call. You should be able to call your lawyer at any time with questions about the law and about your case.  The lawyers at the Chicago personal injury law firm of Kurasch & Klein, Ltd have successfully handled many wrongful death cases.  They believe that families who have suffered a terrible tragedy, such as the loss of a loved one, deserve to not only have lawyers who fight for their rights and are willing to pursue all of the damages to which they are entitled, but to also have lawyers who will talk to the families, explain the law, and take the time to answer calls, to answer questions, and to hold the client’s hand as much as needed throughout the emotional process.  With over 70 years of combined experience, our lawyers fight for client’s rights and provide the knowledge and information you need.  When you entrust our lawyers with your family, we treat you like you are our family.