Section Newsletters

Articles From Joseph K. Guyette

Employco USA v. Workers’ Compensation Comm’n Calculating Wage Rates Where the Petitioner Only Worked a Few Days By Joseph K. Guyette Workers’ Compensation Law, July 2023 Employco USA, Inc. v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Comm’n addresses the proper method for calculating average weekly wages for an employee who worked for a relatively short period of time.
Settling Workers’ Compensation Cases With Medicare Set-Asides and the Responsibility for Ongoing Reporting By Joseph K. Guyette Workers’ Compensation Law, April 2022 Settling a workers’ compensation case that includes a Medicare set-aside is a complicated process, often including lengthy contracts. 
Houchin v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission: When a delayed surgery turns into a different surgery By Joseph K. Guyette Workers’ Compensation Law, July 2016 In a Supreme Court Rule 23 decision, the Appellate Court found that the need for the knee replacement flowed from the original accident, awarding the Petitioner the right to pursue that procedure. Even though this Rule 23 decision does not constitute a binding precedent, it provides some insight as to how the courts may evaluate this issue going forward.
Can an early retirement package prior to the attainment of MMI affect your entitlement to temporary total disability benefits and permanent total disability? A case study of: Sharwarko v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Comm’n, 2015 IL App (1st) 131 By Joseph K. Guyette Workers’ Compensation Law, June 2015 Ultimately, this case will help define when a petitioner has voluntarily retired, and when the refusal to accept a job offer will result in the termination of temporary total disability benefits.
PPG Industries: When are job duties irrelevant? By Joseph K. Guyette Workers’ Compensation Law, February 2015 In PPG Industries v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, the Respondent argued that evidence of the Petitioner’s job duties should be considered irrelevant when that evidence is over three years old. While the appellate court rejected that argument, it left open the possibility that older evidence of a Petitioner’s work duties may be admissible at trial.
W.B. Olson v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission: The appellate court once again relies on the dictionary for interpretation of the Workers’ Compensation Act By Joseph K. Guyette Workers’ Compensation Law, January 2013 Rather than settling the law on a confusing issue, this case is likely to cause further confusion and litigation regarding a petitioner’s ability to return to work.

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