The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on doctors, nurses and other front-line medical workers. Every day, they have faced an influx of desperate patients with COVID-19. The efforts to treat those patients – and prevent them from dying – have been extraordinary but...
People who apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) must be disabled from working to qualify for benefits, among other eligibility requirements. The definition of disability for purposes of these programs is a severe...
Eight months ago, we wrote in this space about COVID-19 long haulers – people who suffer sometimes debilitating symptoms for months after having been infected. In that post, we explained that for a person to meet the disability requirements of Social Security...
In part 1 of this post, we talked about Illinois workers’ compensation law and its potential interaction with the coronavirus-vaccine issues. Today we will talk about rare, severe side effects from the vaccine and other more tangential injuries for which employees may...
In Illinois as of the date of this writing in August 2021, the issue falls into somewhat of a gray area. Scant legal precedent in the state exists to answer this question, but we will share some of our findings in this two-part post. Impact of state statute?...
In light of the recent fire at the Chemtool plant in Rockton, we thought we should discuss employers’ responsibilities around chemical hazards and other toxic substances in the workplace. Employers do have a duty to mitigate these risks for their employees, and it...
Perhaps you are an Illinois worker in seemingly perfect health who suddenly begins experiencing serious shoulder and back injuries that are unquestionably related to on-the-job lifting activities. Your pain is persistent, ongoing and materially debilitating. In fact,...
Illinoisans are no strangers to extreme weather, enduring risky outdoor conditions in the depths of winter and in the heat and humidity of summer. And it's not getting any better because of the impact of climate change, which is already apparent. According to the U.S....
According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), falls are the top cause of construction worker deaths. Nationally, 400 construction employees died from falls at work plus many others sustained severe injuries. The DOL suggests that if an employee must perform work...
The Supreme Court of Illinois recently ruled on a case that will impact the future of workers’ compensation cases. The case involved the question of whether or not a worker can receive coverage from common, everyday types of injuries that result from actions like...
