A new law in Illinois prohibits employers from entering into noncompete contracts with employees who earn $13 per hour or less. The Illinois Freedom to Work Act (Public Act 099-0860) became effective on Jan. 1, 2017. The law makes it illegal for an Illinois employer to enter into a “covenant…
Donald Etherton was injured in a rear-end car crash. The other driver’s insurer settled with Etherton for $250,000, which was the insurance policy limits. Etherton entered a claim to Owners Insurance Co., his underinsured motorist coverage insurer, which had limits of $1 million. He requested that the company pay up…
Dean Wilcox fell 50 feet through an open catwalk hatch onto a concrete floor. Having sustained severe injuries, he sued the on-site safety planner, Steven Basehore, for negligent planning causing the fall; Wilcox also named the safety planner’s employer, Bartlett Services Inc., and an intermediary company, ELR Consulting Inc. (ELR),…
Christopher Wardwell was employed by the defendant, Union Pacific Railroad Co., as a switchman and conductor. On Aug. 9, 2008, Wardwell was riding in a railroad van, going from a railway yard to a train in East St. Louis, Ill., driven by the railroad’s agent, Regina Goodwin. The van was…
Joann Wallseck, 77, was a passenger in a car being driven by John Wallseck on Feb. 10, 2014. John Wallseck made a left turn on River Road and Camp McDonald Road in Mount Prospect, Ill., when their vehicle collided with the oncoming car driven by the defendant, James D. Murges,…
Illinois lawyers sometimes struggle with discovery requests to produce incident reports. The defendant in a case where someone was injured may as a matter of business have a rule about preparing incident reports by employees or managers of these facilities. Suppose a customer at an automotive repair company is injured…
West Side Salvage had insurance coverage from RSUI Indemnity that included $12 million in liability insurance and a secondary level of $11 million in coverage. The underlying lawsuit involved the injuries to John Jentz and Robert Schmidt who were severely injured when a grain elevator exploded. ConAgra was the owner of…
On Jan. 27, 2011, there was a multi-car crash on Interstate 294 in the Chicago suburbs. Kevin Boyd George drove his car into the rear of another car and that car was in turn pushed into a car driven by the plaintiff, John Larkin. Larkin’s car was pushed into the…
Gabriel Pablo was riding his bicycle westbound on 26th Street and traveling in the designated bike lane near St. Louis Avenue when a city of Chicago employee, Harry Sanders, opened the door of his parked car into the bike lane. Pablo and his bike collided with the opened door. This…
Cornell Smith, 38, was driving on a highway when he stopped for the traffic ahead. Traffic was backed up from an off-ramp exit. While he was sitting in his stopped SUV, he was rear-ended by Ross Keys, who was driving a cargo van for Tri-Cal Distributors LLC. On impact, Smith…