Plaintiffs filed four putative class-action lawsuits against Defendants seeking redress for Defendants’ alleged failure to comply with requirements contained in the Workers’ Compensation Act. Defendants filed motions to dismiss each suit for failure to state claims, which Court granted with prejudice. Plaintiffs had the burden of sufficiently pleading that Defendants and the employers they insured intentionally entered into the standard contract for the direct, and not merely incidental, benefit of Plaintiffs. Because they failed to do so, their claims that they were intended third-party beneficiaries were properly dismissed. Additionally, Court properly dismissed Plaintiffs’ claims that that Defendants breached an implied in-fact contract, because there was no contract since consideration cannot flow from an act performed pursuant to preexisting legal duty.
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Worker's Compensation Act