Rockford & Moline Personal Injury Lawyers - Illinois

Look Out Below: Potholes Prevalent and Seemingly Permanent

Nick Avgerinos — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:19:00 GMT

We have certain traditions for summertime in Chicago: the Crosstown Classic, the Taste, and construction. We all know about construction season in the city, and while most of us mark it by standstill moments with our bumper-to-bumper fellow motorists, it is also concretely marked by potholes dotting the roadways.

Potholes give us a reason to welcome construction work. Given their potential for causing dangerous accidents for both cars and bikes (and everything in between), potholes merit immediate attention. Unfortunately, they are often ignored as “more pressing” matters take precedence. But as something that doesn’t just cause expensive damage to our vehicles, but can also prompt accidents (and therefore injuries), potholes are more than a cosmetic problem.

If you suffer damage to your vehicle as the result of a pothole problem, you are entitled to compensation. The Chicago Tribune recently pointed out that, if your damage occurred on the city streets, you have up to one year from the date of accident to file a claim with the city clerk’s office; you can obtain a claim form here. When reporting the damage, it’s important to give specifics, including a description of the damage, how it occurred, and a police report. Photographs of the damage are also helpful. Your claim will be investigated, and if deemed valid, the city will pay half the cost of repairs up to $2,000. Why shouldn’t all of your damage be covered? Finance Committee spokesman Donal Quinlan claims, “The logic is the driver may have had some chance to avoid the damage.”

So, how big of a problem are potholes for the city? According to the Chicago Reporter’s analysis, the Chicago Department of Transportation spent $10 million on pavement maintenance projects in 2007 and filled more than 270,000 potholes. That’s a lot of pavement. What many of us don’t realize, however, is how great an expense it is to fill these potholes. With skyrocketing gas prices, everyone needs to cut back, and that includes the city.

CNN reports that many local governments have to scale back on services in order to make ends meet; road repair is a prime example. In a recent survey by the National Association of Counties, 81% of counties reported that public safety is the area most affected by rising fuel costs. Beyond the pressure of higher gas prices, it also costs more to repair the roads. Why? Because asphalt is made largely from oil, and the price for its main component has ballooned more than 90% since last year.

Translation: expect more dangerous roadways. As a result, be extra aware of your surroundings, your fellow motorists, and construction workers toiling to fix the problem. There may be more potholes in your path, but that doesn’t obstruct your ability to exercise good driving habits.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Nick Avgerinos

Something to Chew Over: Are You “On-the-Job” During Your Lunch Break?

Nick Avgerinos — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:41:00 GMT

Workers’ compensation is probably something you don’t know a whole lot about, until you or a close friend suffers an on-the-job injury. Then it comes at you all too quickly.

What’s the difference between workers’ compensation and personal injury ? (If the word ‘tort’ makes you think of a tasty pastry, it’s worth your while to click around on that site.) For you, it might be a big difference in terms of the number of zeros in your award.

In Iowa , for example, workers’ compensation claims have scheduled injuries. In other words, forget everything you’ve ever been told about not being able to put a price on your life and health. Simply put, in most instances, your mangled hand is worth a specific dollar amount. Same goes for a leg, a foot, an ear, etc. The doctors provide impairment ratings which are then used to determine the value of one’s permanent condition or, the ratings set the boundaries for the value of the case. The who, what, where, when, and why is irrelevant so long as you injured a specific body part on-the-job. (Assuming no other concurrent or pre-existing injuries or conditions, the chess player and the soccer player may well end up receiving the same amount for loss of use of a foot.) However, for injuries affecting the whole body , such as back, neck, internal, neurological, and mental health to name just a few, the limitations of the scheduled injury analysis I have discussed do not apply, as these injuries are not classified as scheduled. Confused yet?

In Illinois , workers’ compensation injuries are not scheduled as they are in Iowa . In establishing case value, Illinois does not apply the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment , including the 5^th or 6^th Editions. The Illinois system is based on precedent ; that is, compensation for permanent disability is based upon what the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission has awarded in the past for similarly situated individuals.

With personal injury claims, on the other hand, specifics are very important. Were you in any way at fault? How much were your medical bills? Can you continue to work? How does the injury affect your personal life? You’re the victim and yet you’re left to prove that you deserve compensation. Doesn’t seem fair, but it’s the way the system works. The best thing you can do is be upfront and honest. It’s up to you to report your injury early and seek legal advice regarding how to proceed.

You’d think that determining what constitutes a workers’ compensation claim would be pretty straightforward. Well, you’d think wrong . The injury must arise out of and in the course of employment . Sounds redundant, doesn’t it? But often Employers escape liability by saying that an employee was technically “on-the-job,” but sustained an injury as a result of behavior not related to the job. In other words, injuries are often deemed to be sustained out of---but not in the course of---employment.

So, what about lunch breaks? As with most questions, the legal answer is “it depends.” A recent New York workers’ compensation case provides an interesting example. Like Illinois , New York Workers’ Compensation law requires that the injury arise both out of and in the course of employment. In this case, a cab driver was parked in a parking lot, eating his lunch, when approached by another motorist for assistance in jumping his car. The cab driver graciously agreed, but the battery exploded as he was securing the jumper cables, resulting in the cab driver losing his left eye. He filed for workers’ compensation….but he was on his lunch break when the injury occurred.

The case ended up in the New York Court of Appeals , which agreed with the employer that meal breaks are generally not compensable. They ruled, however, that this case was an exception. Testimony showed that drivers routinely took 15-20 minute breaks with the express permission of the employer at a location convenient for the employer. Reasoning that the general rule doesn't apply when the nature of the job dictates the time and place of the meal and the employee is still “on-the-job” at the time the break occurs. Thus, the court determined that the cab driver was injured in the course of employment.

But did his injury really arise out of employment? The New York Court of Appeals determined that if an employee is injured while involved in an activity that benefits the employer, while in the course of employment, then that employee has a workers’ compensation claim. But the cab driver here was just being a Good Samaritan , right? Wrong. The court ruled that, because the cab was clearly marked with the employer's name, the assistance created a good-will benefit to the employer. In other words, the cab driver was providing free advertisement for the employer.

As you can see, the world of workers’ compensation can be very confusing, but a good attorney can help you navigate through the details. Hopefully, you never have to deal with an on-the-job injury; but this should give you some helpful information to digest on your own lunch break today, just in case.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Nick Avgerinos

Death Benefits In An Illinois Workers' Compensation Case

Nick Avgerinos — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:00:00 GMT

When the unimaginable occurs and a family member suffers a work-related fatality, the survivors are forced to consider how the family will support itself and make ends meet. While no amount of money will ever replace the loss of a mother or father or other family member, the Illinois Workers' Compensation system provides one of the fairest programs in the country for compensating a family for its loss of income.

Legislative changes made to the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act in 2005 have made it possible for the surviving spouse of an employee who has died as a result of a work-related injury or disease to (depending on when the accident occurred) receive a weekly workers' compensation benefit for a period of 25 years or $500,000.00, whichever is greater. Again, depending on when the accident occurred, the minimum weekly rate of compensation is $441.93, and the maximum rate is $1,178.48. Therefore, the minimum annual amount that can be received is $22,980.36 while the maximum annual recovery of death benefits is $61,280.96.

Prior to the 2005 change in the law, the death benefit to the surviving spouse would have been $250,000.00 or 20 years, whichever was greater. It is obvious that the recent changes have benefited the working people - a development that likely comes as a surprise given the anti-union sentiment that has characterized the current administration in Washington, D.C. and the misdirected tort reform (or, more accurately, tort deform) movement that continues to undermine the efforts of organized labor, public interest groups and the like to protect and speak for those who have been seriously injured at the workplace.

NOTE: If a widow or widower were to remarry before the maximum death benefits have been paid, the workers' compensation insurance company or employer would then pay the surviving spouse a lump sum equal to two (2) years of benefits, but nothing further. However, even in the event of remarriage, there may be instances where there are minor children or dependents involved in which case the lump sum payment does not necessarily cut off future benefits.

In an upcoming blawg, I will talk about the death benefits that are available in Iowa.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Nick Avgerinos