We are Chicago workers’ compensation attorneys who help with cases anywhere in Illinois. We’ll talk to you for free and in confidence. Call us at (312) 346-5578 or fill out our contact form. We of course blog every couple of days. Sometimes we get good questions that aren’t enough for a blog post, but I thought it would be good to share them with our readers in case they apply to your situation. In no particular order …
I work for an not for profit company and broke my leg on the job. My boss said non profits don’t have to carry workers’ compensation insurance in Illinois. Is that true? No, it’s not true. They are like any other business.
My husband tore his rotator cuff working for the Chicago Transit Authority. My cousin is a Chicago cop and doesn’t get regular work comp benefits. Is it the same for the CTA? No, CTA employees get Illinois workers’ compensation benefits. Chicago police officers do not, but any other City of Chicago employee is eligible for benefits.
Is it true that there is a cap on what you can get for a settlement if you have carpal tunnel syndrome? Yes and no. Yes if you make a full duty recovery. If so it’s limited to 15% of each hand. If you don’t then that is not necessarily the case.
I read the Illinois budget debate has something to do with workers’ compensation benefits. How is that true? I have no idea. It’s political theater by Governor Rauner and the special interest groups he supports.
My neighbor tore his ACL at work and got a $70,000.00 settlement offer. Same thing happened to me and they are offering $40,000.00. Why the difference? It’s likely because he had a different recovery and or higher wage than you. It also could be that he didn’t have as good of a lawyer.
I work for United Airlines as a pilot, but came to them through the merger with Continental. I’m based out of New Jersey. Can I bring my case in Illinois since United is headquartered there? United pilots who were originally hired by United can always file their case in Illinois. Same for flight attendants. If you were part of a merger, current case law says that you have to be hired here, hurt here or primarily work out of Illinois. That case is being challenged but for now it’s a no go.
I read what you wrote about some Chicago work comp firms hiring kids just out of law school and you said it’s a bad idea. That happened to me where I thought I was hiring an experienced lawyer, but instead got his new associate who always had to get back to me with answers to questions because he had no clue. Why do law firms do that? We don’t do it, but some firms hire young kids to save money. It’s kind of dumb because they must spend a ton of time dealing with the problems they create and then they often just quit. And of course it’s terrible for the clients.
Do people really get arrested for work comp fraud? Not often, but it happens and I bet it starts to happen more. Hopefully companies that knowingly go without insurance get in trouble too because it’s a felony to do so.
I’m a teacher, usually in history class, but one day I subbed for gym and broke my ankle playing dodge ball. They want to deny me benefits because the gym teacher isn’t supposed to participate. I didn’t know that. Can they do that? Any case can be denied, but when push comes to shove I think you’ll win because it doesn’t sound like you were goofing off when you got hurt. Doing something you aren’t supposed to do does not end the claim if it’s not reckless and is a benefit to your employer.
We settled. How long until I’m paid? The key to answering this question is knowing when settlement contracts have been signed by all parties, submitted to the Arbitrator and approved by the Arbitrator. Once your attorneys has a copy of an approved settlement contract, stamped by an Arbitrator and sends that to the insurance company, you’ll typically get paid in 30 days or less.
If you have any questions, get in touch any time. We are happy to talk to anyone and it’s a free service.
