Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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Pilot Flying J, a truck stop fueling and restaurant chain that is common along Illinois and U.S. highways, has agreed to pay $92 million in fines to the federal government for a scheme to cheat truck drivers out of agreed-upon diesel fuel rebates. The agreement was reached with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee and Pilot Travel Centers, LLC d/b/a “Pilot Flying J.”

It was alleged that the scheme cost the company’s truck driver customers more than $56 million. The agreement came after 10 Pilot Flying J employees pleaded guilty to involvement in the plot to defraud Flying J customers.

Pilot Flying J is one of the largest trucker diesel suppliers in the United States. Flying J offered rebates and discount programs to encourage loyalty among its trucking customers. The discounts offered by Pilot Flying J varied among its numerous truck stops making it difficult for customers to know whether they were getting their agreed-upon discounts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that in some instances, Pilot Flying J instructed its sales staff how to reduce the rebates in order to make some discounts more profitable.

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On Nov. 29, 2009, Steven Freimuth was driving his Jeep northbound on Route 12 at the intersection with Molidor Road in Volo, Ill. As he drove through that intersection he was broadsided by the car driven eastbound by the defendant, Dina Goehler. Route 12 at that intersection was a four-lane preferential highway with the right-of-way, in favor of Freimuth, while Goehler, the defendant, had a stop sign at the cross street. It was claimed that she chose not to yield the right-of-way to Freimuth.

Steven Freimuth was a 30-year-old comptroller who sustained soft tissue neck and shoulder injuries, plus he claimed severe psychological injuries including major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder and suicide attempts.

The defendant, Goehler, 81, argued that Freimuth was driving too fast for the conditions and he chose not to keep a proper lookout while coming over a hill. The police report showed that Freimuth did not report any injury at the scene, that he did not display any physical injuries and that whatever injuries he had were resolved shortly after the collision. As far as his psychological injuries, Goehler’s argument was that they were not related to this crash.

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Stephen Wolkoff, 65, rented a self-storage unit from Sunshine Storage Inc. There was a loft storage unit above Wolkoff’s storage unit. The floor of the loft comprised the ceiling of Wolkoff’s storage unit. When Wolkoff was inside his unit, the ceiling above him collapsed crushing him beneath 3,000 pounds of material.

Wolkoff suffered a fractured pelvis, ruptured urethra and nerve damage to both of his legs. Wolkoff underwent open reduction surgery and reconstruction of his entire pelvis, procedures to reconnect his urethra and implant an artificial sphincter to drain his bladder and surgery to repair nerve damage in his legs.

Wolkoff also required a colostomy and wore the bag for three years. In addition, Wolkoff suffered complications, including infections to both ankles. Blood loss from the injuries caused permanent vision loss in his left eye and partial loss in his right eye. Wolkoff’s medical expenses totaled $3.2 million.

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On Nov. 10, 2010, William Burke, an off-duty Chicago police detective, was driving eastbound on Foster Avenue in Harwood Heights, Ill., when his car rear-ended the car driven by defendant Marie Halling and pushed it into the rear of the plaintiff’s Jolanta Grzeda’s vehicle.

Grzeda was taken from the scene by ambulance to treat her injuries. She sustained cervical and lumbar strain/sprains with a disc herniation revealed on MRI films. She claimed $16,301 in medical expenses and $7,140 for lost time from her job for four months as a cleaning woman.

Burke disputed the nature and extent of Grzeda’s injuries and damages while Halling denied liability and contested damages.

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On Jan. 27, 2011, the defendant, 55-year-old Wayne Mallek, was driving eastbound on Signal Hill Road in North Barrington, Ill., during snowy weather. As Mallek went down a steep hill approaching a stop sign at Route 59, he realized he was not going to be able to stop in time due to the accumulation of packed snow on the road. Traffic traveling on Route 59 did not have any stop signs or traffic control devices at that intersection.

Mallek applied his brake hard, pumped the brakes and then swerved sharply to the right but his vehicle did not slow down or respond until he reached the intersection due to the steep decline.

As a result of that maneuver, Mallek slightly sideswiped a southbound box truck driven by the defendant Santiago Nava who was employed by Randolph Packing. Nava was in the scope of his employment at the time.

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The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has affirmed the dismissal of a fraud case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Patrick Camasta filed a lawsuit against Joseph A. Bank Clothiers Inc. claiming that prior to making purchases at the company’s far north suburban store in Deer Park, Ill., that he saw an advertisement about “sale prices” for certain items.

Camasta’s complaint did not specify when or where he saw the advertisement, what exactly the advertisement said, what the “sale prices” were or what particular merchandise was eligible for the sale.

At the Deer Park Joseph A. Bank store, Camasta found that there was a promotion in which customers were able to buy one shirt and get two for free. Camasta purchased six shirts for $167. After his purchases, Camasta alleged that he learned that Bank’s practice was to advertise normal retail prices as normal price reductions. Camasta alleged but for this fraudulent retail tactic, he would not have purchased the six shirts.

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In this case, the plaintiff Tabitha Wiggins and the defendant Sheila Bonsack were involved in an automobile collision that took place near the intersection of Logan Street and Route 149 in West Frankfort, Ill. The intersection is a 4-way intersection with traffic control devices in each direction. According to the record, the defendant, Bonsack, stopped to get gas after work and was then exiting Podge’s Service Station near the intersection by turning left out of Podge’s parking lot to travel north on Logan Street. In order to turn left onto northbound Logan, Bonsack had to cross two lanes of southbound traffic. Because traffic was heavy at the time, Bonsack sat for 2-3 minutes waiting for a break in traffic in order to exit.

According to Bonsack, an unidentified man in a red truck came to a stop in the southbound lane closest to Podge’s and left a gap between his truck and the two cars in front of him that were stopped at the red light at the intersection. The driver of the red truck waved Bonsack through. Bonsack proceeded slowly, but Wiggins’ car crashed into the front of Bonsack’s car at that moment.

Wiggins was 15 at the time of the accident and was driving on a driver’s permit. Her mother was in the passenger seat. Wiggins was approaching the traffic light at the intersection and noted that it was red in her direction. She was applying her brakes when Bonsack’s car came out into her lane, resulting in the crash. Wiggins had testified that she was “going the speed limit or under “’cause it was a stop light.” She estimated that she was traveling at 20 mph or less. The airbags in Wiggins’s vehicle did not deploy on impact.

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In Illinois, the Illinois Vehicle Code Section 9-101 requires that an entity may only engage in the business of renting out motor vehicles if it first provides the Illinois Secretary of State with proof of its financial responsibility. The purpose of the requirement is to provide the public with protection for negligent drivers who don’t have insurance and rent cars or other vehicles.

Section 9-102 of the Illinois Vehicle Code provides that a rental car company may give proof of financial responsibility by filing a bond, an insurance policy or a certificate of self-insurance issued by the director of the Department of Insurance.

A bond must be in the sum of $100,000 and conditioned on the rental car company’s payment of any judgment resulting from the operation of a rental vehicle or against the company, the renter or anyone driving the car with the consent of the company and the renter. 625 ILCS 5/9-103.

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In 1952, the owner of a parcel of land in Illinois granted a pipeline operator an easement for two pipelines to cross his land. The first pipeline was built immediately.

The easements specified that the second pipeline, if constructed, was required to be built within ten feet of the first pipeline. The pipeline operator promised the landowner that the land would remain farmable.

In 2012, the current pipeline operator notified the landowner that it planned to build the second pipeline. The owner responded with a lawsuit to quiet title. The pipeline operator removed the case to the federal district court under diversity jurisdiction.

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If it isn’t hard enough for parolees to manage a new life after serving their time in prison, at least they do not face unlimited searches and reduced expectation of privacy, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The court of appeals in Chicago rejected the “astonishing proposition” that parolees who knowingly violate the terms of their release are subject to virtually any and all searches.

The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals conceded that the parolees have a reduced expectation of privacy. However, that doesn’t mean that searches of parolees “conducted at random and based on no suspicion whatsoever” automatically pass muster under the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.

“Society is prepared to accept that parolees have an expectation of privacy, even if they are up to no good,” wrote Justice John Daniel Tinder.

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