Injured Illinois worker fighting for his due benefits
On behalf of Jeffrey Frederick of Frederick & Hagle posted in Workers’ Compensation on Thursday, September 20, 2012.
Federal law mandates that every state must maintain workers’ compensation insurance. This means that if an employee is injured on the job in Illinois, or anywhere else in the country, the injured employee should stand to receive workers’ compensation benefits to cover not only any medical expenses associated with the injury, but also to cover any lost wages resulting from the accident or injury.
An injured employee from Swansea, Illinois, filed a lawsuit against his employer last week over what he says was wrongful termination. The man states that he was fired as retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim after he was hurt through the course of the duties of his job with CMC Electric.
The employee is seeking damages of $100,000 for medical expenses from the injury, loss of income and court costs. He could be awarded the damages if a court finds that his employer is guilty of violating Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act for retaliatory discharge and willful and wanton conduct.
While workers’ compensation laws in Illinois appear to protect workers, sometimes the system can be abused and sway toward protecting the employer and insurance companies. Due to this unfortunate reality, many Illinois workers injured on the job will choose to retain an experienced attorney that will ensure that the injured worker receives their due benefits.
Experienced legal counsel can also guide a person in pursuing additional compensation if there is evidence of third party liability and negligence.
Source: The Record, “Worker says he was fired in retaliation for work comp claim,” Andrea Dearden, Sept. 19, 2012
- Our firm handles similar cases to the events detailed above. To learn more, please visit our Champaign workers’ compensation page.
