A former police officer for the village of Maryville has been indicted by a grand jury in Madison County, Illinois on charges related to an alleged fraudulent workers’ compensation claim.

Richard Turner is facing charges relating to a claim he made in 2009 while employed by the Maryville Police Department. Turner is alleged to have reported suffering an injury to his back while on the job. The Village of Maryville paid employment compensation to Turner, and its insurer paid his medical expenses.

Upon discovering questionable circumstances, internal investigators with the police department determined that Turner’s injury did not take place at work. The results of the investigation were presented to the grand jury. Turner has been charged with two counts of felony theft, Class 1 and Class 2, and is also facing two counts of violating the Workers’ Compensation Act, which is a Class 4 felony. He has since resigned from the police department.

Circuit Judge Rich Tognarelli set Turner’s bond at $10,000. He faces a maximum penalty of four to 15 years in prison for the Class 1 felony, three to seven years for the Class 2 felony, and one to three years for the Class 4 felony.

Bob Briskman is a workers compensation attorney and Chicago workers compensation lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released final data from 2011 on nonfatal on-the-job illnesses and injuries that required days away from work.

The rate of such injuries was 117 cases for every 10,000 full-time workers, which was statistically the same rate as 2010. The total number of cases with days spent away from work was 1,181,290, also statistically unchanged from 2010. This included all work injuries in state and local government and private industry.

The median number of days away from work was 8, a figure that is used to measure the severity of the work injury or illness.

Twenty percent of work injuries or illnesses requiring days away from work occurred in just five occupations: nursing aides and orderlies, laborers, janitors, police officers and truck drivers. The incidence rate for police officers was five times higher than the average for all occupations, and the rate for laborers was three times higher than the average.

Thirty-three percent of all cases were musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). Truck drivers who suffered MSD injuries were out of work for a median 21 days, compared to the average of 11 days out of work for all workers suffering from an MSD injury.

The preliminary count of fatal work injuries for 2011, according to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, was 4,609, a slight decrease from the count of 4,690 in 2010. Since 2006, fatal work injuries have decreased 21 percent.

Bob Briskman is a Chicago workers’ compensation attorney and Chicago workers compensation lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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The Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI) has announced that it collected over $10.3 million in fines for improper market conduct in 2012. The Department said that the amount of fines collected has increased due to its greater enforcement efforts and participation in multi-state examinations. DOI collected $322,000 in fines in 2011, $217,000 in 2010 and $363,630 in 2009.

The enforcement includes settlements announced in 2012 with Prudential Company of America and MetLife Inc., as well as a multi-state investigation of American International Group Inc. (AIG) and its workers’ compensation affiliates for under-reporting of premiums. The state of Illinois received a settlement of $3.7 million from AIG.

The AIG settlement was part of a multi-state effort that resulted in payments to state regulators across the country totaling $146.4 million. The amount included fines of $100 million and premium taxes and assessments of another $46.4 million. The 2008 investigation discovered that AIG had allegedly attributed at least $2.12 billion in workers’ compensation premiums to other types of insurance, thus lowering its taxes. The misreporting took place from 1985 to 1996.

Fines collected by DOI are placed in the Insurance Administration Producers Fund and go toward DOI appropriations.

The companies above have agreed to introduce reforms to aid in the identification of and payment to beneficiaries of life insurance policies.

Robert Briskman is a Chicago car accident lawyer and Chicago car accident attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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An occupational health center will begin operations in Normal, Illinois, with the goal of reducing work injuries and workers’ compensation costs. Integrated Work Injury Network (IWIN) opens in February with Dr. Dru Hauter as medical director. Dr. Hauter is also affiliated with Illinois Work Injury Resource Center (I-WIRC), an occupational health center in Peoria.

The facility will be a non-hospital-based center for the treatment and prevention of work injuries, including X-rays, physical examinations, drug screening and functional testing. Patients are typically employed by health care facilities, construction companies and manufacturers.

Illinois workers who are injured on the job should know that they have the right to choose their own medical provider. Employers have the right to recommend a health care provider, and they will often recommend an occupational health center. These clinics rely on referrals from employers and they focus on reducing workers’ compensation costs by ensuring that employees return to work quickly. This may not be in the employee’s best interest.

If you are injured at work, contact a qualified workers’ compensation attorney who can help make sure you receive the compensation you deserve and the medical care you need.

Robert Briskman is a Chicago car accident lawyer and Chicago car accident attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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Three Illinois employers have been indicted by a Cook County grand jury on Class 4 felony charges for allegedly failing to obtain workers’ compensation insurance. If convicted, the employers face 1 to 3 years in the state prison and fines of up to $25,000.

The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) named the individuals charged as follows.

In addition to being charged individually, John Linek was charged as President of Chicago’s SMS Logistics. While Linek has workers’ compensation insurance on other businesses, he has allegedly operated a trucking business without obtaining insurance, and at least one worker has been injured.

Kevin Warren has been charged individually and as President and Secretary of the Melrose Park company Symphony Transport, also known as Big R Transport. Although Warren reached a settlement agreement to secure insurance and pay a $10,000 fine, the insurance he obtained was allegedly canceled after a few months.

Ahmed Ghosien of the Hometown company Ghosien European Auto Werks was also charged. Ghosien agreed to pay a fine and secure insurance, but allegedly failed to make payments, resulting in the cancellation of the insurance after a few months.

All those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

The IWCC has also taken action against uninsured employers by issuing citations. The Commission has cited 199 employers for being uninsured, collecting over $100,000 in fines and resulting in more than 1,000 employees being covered by workers’ compensation insurance.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago workers’ compensation attorney and Chicago workers compensation lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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As part of reforms in the Illinois workers’ compensation system, impairment ratings promulgated by the American Medical Association (AMA) are now used by doctors and arbitrators to decide the workers’ compensation claims of injured workers in Illinois. However, this can have a negative effect on the claims of workers, in particular those with permanent partial injuries.

The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act mandates that physicians consider the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment to determine the level of permanent partial disability. The problem with this is that an impairment is not the same thing as a disability. Thus, according to the AMA guidelines, a worker may have only a minor impairment, but he or she may be suffering from a significant disability for the purposes of work performance.

For instance, a worker with an arm injury that permits basic daily functions like eating or getting dressed may have a low impairment rating under the AMA guidelines, but may be unable to perform a job that requires heavy lifting. In addition, studies have shown that impairment rates are often misapplied due to lack of knowledge and experience on the part of the examiner.

It is important to remember that AMA guidelines are only one factor considered in determining what compensation an injured worker should receive. An experienced workers’ compensation attorney will know how to use other factors, such as the worker’s medical records and future earning capacity, and evidence from medical experts, to ensure that the worker gets the compensation he or she is entitled to.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago workers’ compensation attorney and Chicago workers compensation lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) has decided a case of a nurse who slipped and fell during an authorized break in favor of the worker.

The nurse, who worked for the State of Illinois, was wearing a walking boot to compensate for an unrelated injury. She wished to go out to her car, which was parked in the employee parking lot, during an authorized break. A co-worker warned her of dangerous ice and snow conditions, but she chose to go to her car anyway, slipping and falling on the way back in and injuring her arm.

The arbitrator in the case denied workers’ compensation benefits to the injured worker, but the Commission reversed, ruling that the nurse had proved that her injury arose out of and in the course of her employment.

The Commission reasoned that the nurse was on an authorized break and did not take an unnecessary or unreasonable risk by going outside to her car, despite being warned of adverse weather conditions.

The IWCC operates the court system that decides workers’ compensation cases in the state of Illinois. Cases are tried by an arbitrator initially, and may be reviewed by a three-commissioner panel. Approximately 50,000 cases are filed with the commission each year. In 85 percent of cases, the injured worker is represented by an attorney, although many cases are filed as a settlement contract without a prior application, and in most of those cases, the worker is not represented by an attorney.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago workers’ compensation attorney and Chicago workers compensation lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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A customer at a go-kart racetrack in Beford Park is suing the facility’s ownership and management. She claims the seat belt on the go-kart she was driving did not function properly and as a result, she sustained injuries.

Kimberly Ball filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court on a recent Wednesday claiming that when she visited Chicago Race Factory on May 2, 2012, employees assigned her to a go-kart with a broken seat belt. The lawsuit alleges that they informed her the seat belts were for use only by children and that adults did not need to wear them.

Ball’s lawsuit claims that while driving the vehicle through the track’s first turn, her “body slid on the driver’s seat causing her leg, knee, hip and ankle to be injured.” She seeks damages in excess of $50,000.

The complaint alleges negligence on the part of the parent company and employees by permitting and instructing Ball to drive a go-kart with a non-functioning seat belt. It also names the racetrack’s manager, claiming he did not properly train his staff in safety precautions and allowed them to assign the go-kart with a broken seat belt.

The Chicago Race Factory’s website claims that it has the only quarter-mile-long track in the city and features “top-of-the-line go karts” with a top speed of 45 mph.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago car accident lawyer and Chicago car accident attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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State agencies including the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission are joining together to crack down on businesses that improperly classify employees as independent contractors.

In contrast to employees, independent contractors who get hurt while working are not eligible for workers’ compensation.

Some business owners may make an honest mistake in misclassifying employees, but others do it deliberately in an illegal attempt to keep costs down, thereby gaining a competitive business advantage. State officials say the recent crackdown is aimed at businesses engaging in deliberate employee misclassification.

If you are hurt on the job and believe you cannot receive workers’ compensation because you are an independent contractor, you should make sure that your job classification is correct. Your employment status cannot be arbitrarily determined by your employer; it is determined by a variety of factors, including the manner in which your employer manages your work.

If your employer has a good deal of control over your work, you are likely an employee. Employers can tell employees when to work and how to do their jobs and will often provide tools and supplies. The same cannot always be said of an independent contractor.

Misclassification is bad for employees because they are not financially compensated in case of injury and cannot earn overtime. The State of Illinois says that it is bad for the economy as well; it increases the burden of insurance and taxes on honest business owners, raising their overhead and making it more difficult for them to stay competitive with businesses that break the law.

If you have been injured on the job or are unsure whether you should be classified as an independent contractor, we can help.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago workers’ compensation attorney and Chicago workers compensation lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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A woman living in McHenry, Ill., faces multiple charges after being arrested for filing fraudulent workers’ compensation claims against three separate employers.

Tracy Williams, 43, is charged with workers’ compensation fraud, insurance fraud, aggravated fraud, and perjury, according to a statement released by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Williams is alleged to have filed fraudulent workers’ compensation claims and faking workplace injuries at Mastertek Auto Repair in Algonquin, Johnson’s Control Inc. in Geneva, and Thornton’s Gas Station and Store in East Dundee.

Williams’ bail was set at $90,000.

“The workers’ compensation system is supposed to cover costs of employees who are injured on the job,” Madigan said. “The evidence in this case shows the defendant was intent on defrauding the system for her own benefit.”

In one injury report, Williams claimed to sustain an injury to her left shoulder when a customer at her workplace punched her.

“Workers’ compensation fraud is a serious crime,” Illinois Department of Insurance Director Andrew Boron said in the statement. “The Department of Insurance Workers’ Compensation Fraud Unit is dedicated to rooting out the theft of benefits. We are pleased to work with the attorney general to pursue those who defraud the system, hurting taxpayers and beneficiaries alike.”

Robert Briskman is a Chicago workers’ compensation attorney and Chicago workers compensation lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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