Practice Alert - June 16, 2008

The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission announced today that Arbitrator Jennifer Teague will serve as Commissioner DeMunnos temporary replacement, effective immediately. Commissioner DeMunno serves as the Public Member on Panel C of the Commission. Arbitrator Teague shares with Chairman Ruth a background as a petitioners attorney and the outlook that comes with representing the worker. She is the Arbitrator whose decision was recently overturned by the Appellate Court because she improperly awarded permanent disability benefits for both a specific loss and a permanent total disability in the same claim. (Beelman Trucking v. IWCC, 381 Ill. App. 3d, 2008).

Panel C will now consist of Commissioner Gore as the employee representative, Arbitrator Teague as the neutral Public member, and Commissioner Basurto as the employers representative. With Arbitrator Teague serving as the public member of Panel C, a majority of the Panel is now strongly petitioner-oriented. Those claims now assigned to Commissioner DeMunno will be the primary responsibility of Arbitrator Teague and she and her staff will have the first voice in the decision on those cases.

Arbitrator Teague was scheduled to be on vacation for the month of July, so no decision has been announced by the IWCC as to how her arbitration docket will be managed during her temporary assignment. The maximum duration of this temporary assignment is 6 months.

If there are any further questions regarding this appointment and its impact on any pending matters, please contact us and we will provide further analysis and recommendations to address specific issues or concerns.