On January 21, 2022, the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois issued a decision in the matter of Donovan Munoz v. Bulley & Andrews.

On February 3, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court held that claims under the Biometric Information Privacy Act (Privacy Act) are not barred by the Workers’ Compensation Act’s (Compensation Act’s) exclusive remedy provisions and therefore, claimants may seek redress in the Circuit Court and not at the Workers’ Compensation Commission.

Employers are sure to have questions regarding OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) addressing COVID-19 vaccines, testing and masking requirements that may apply to employers with over 100 employees.

The second COVID-19 presumption case has been decided! On November 3, 2021, Arbitrator Cantrell issued a decision in the case of Tonia Dalton v. Saline Care Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (21 WC 008010), once again addressing Illinois’ COVID-19 presumption.

The moment Illinois workers’ compensation professionals have been waiting for has finally arrived!  On October 21, 2021, Arbitrator Amarilio issued the first decision addressing Illinois’ COVID-19 presumption in the case of Edgar Lucero v.  Focal Point, LLC (20 WC 18985).

Two state insurance guarantee funds challenged CMS’ definition of a “primary plan” in order to exclude themselves from conditional payments and Section 111 reporting requirements.

On August 31, 2021, Governor Pritzker reappointed the following Arbitrators to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission: Joseph Amarilio, Paul Cellini, Stephen Friedman, Gerald Granada, Jessica Hegarty, Adam Hinrichs, Jeffrey Huebsch and Maureen Pulia.

In the show Supermarket Sweep, contestants raced through the aisles of a supermarket in a short amount of allotted time, competing for the highest dollar value of items in their cart by the end of the spree.

On May 21, 2020, amendments to the Illinois Occupational Diseases Act created a rebuttable presumption in favor of compensability for COVID-19 first responders and front-line workers  who contract COVID-19; the expansive definition of “front-line workers” is based on occupations identified in the Governor’s Executive Order 2020-10 and includes employees of grocery stores, banks, postal workers, public transportation, hardware stores, etc. provided that their occupation required them to encounter members of the general public or to work in locations of more than 15 employees. 

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Public Act 102-0006 on May 28, 2021. The law amends the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure to allow pre-judgment interest in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits.