Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing plaintiff’s state court claims of negligent retention, negligence and willful and wanton conduct against defendants-plaintiff’s co-worker, hotel where plaintiff was staying and plaintiff’s employer arising out of incident in which defendant-co-worker inflicted personal injuries while both men were staying at defendant-hotel during layover for airline where both men worked. Dist. Ct. could properly dismiss plaintiff’s claims against his employer, since said work-related claims were required to be resolved by Ill. Workers Compensation Commission, where: (1) plaintiff’s injuries could properly be viewed as “accidental” from viewpoint of both plaintiff and employer within meaning of Workers Compensation Act; (2) plaintiff's injuries arose out of his employment while plaintiff was on travel status; and (3) plaintiff failed to establish that Commission would not compensate him for his injuries under circumstances where injuries were motivated by co-worker’s racial animosity. Ct. rejected plaintiff’s contention that Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act preempted Workers’ Compensation Act so as to allow Dist. Ct. to resolve plaintiff’s lawsuit. Dist. Ct. also properly dismissed remaining claims against hotel and co-worker, since: (1) plaintiff, as British citizen, sued both foreign citizen co-worker and U.S. citizen hotel; and (2) federal court has no diversity jurisdiction where foreign citizen sues both foreign citizen and U.S. citizen.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Jurisdiction