Personal Injury News & Developments

The general rule in Illinois is that workers’ compensation is an injured employee’s sole remedy for workplace injuries unless certain very limited exceptions apply. 820 ILCS 305/5 states that there is no right to recover for these injuries or death “other than the compensation herein provided.” Of course, the compensation that the statute is referring to is workers’ compensation. However, there may be some scenarios under which an injured employee can file a negligence lawsuit, namely when someone else is responsible for their injury.

It is common in the construction industry for there to be a general contractor and multiple subcontractors on a worksite. It is a standard business practice. Each entity is responsible for different parts of the job. As a result, there are hundreds of construction workers on a site answering to different people. However, they only answer to their direct employer.

In Illinois, the laws are very strict about workers being required to stay within the workers’ compensation system. There are very limited exceptions to the rule that workers’ compensation benefits are the sole remedy for injured workers. In Illinois, there is not even an exception for gross negligence as there is in some states. Essentially, the employer has to act intentionally to be liable in a lawsuit. Otherwise, workers’ compensation benefits are the exclusive remedy for a worker’s injury.

When you file a personal injury lawsuit, you are paid for damages that you have suffered in the past and present.Many plaintiffs do not realize that the damages award also covers harm that they will suffer in the future.

This includes economic damages such as lost wages and future medical expenses. When you file an Illinois personal injury lawsuit and do not request future medical costs, you are leaving money on the table.

While you may not want to think about the future when you have suffered serious injuries now and trying to recover the money that you need to make yourself whole after the accident, you must think ahead and plan how you will show the court that you are entitled to damages later in time. This is even more important when you have suffered catastrophic injury.

In a personal injury case for something such as a car accident or other mishap, the plaintiff is entitled to collect both non-economic and economic damages. Non-economic damages measure things such as pain and suffering and emotional trauma.

Economic damages are intended to compensate a plaintiff for actual losses that they have suffered. This can include lost wages, medical bills and other medical expenses. When it comes to a wage loss claim, this amount can end up increasing dramatically.

In Illinois, the standard for injured workers is that you are able to show that your injury is permanent and that is prevents you from continuing employment. Antol v. Chavez-Pereda, 284 Ill. App. 3d 561, 573, 672 N.E.2d 320, 329 (1st Dist. 1996).