McAllister v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Comm’n

Claimant filed for workers' compensation benefits for knee injury he sustained when working as a sous chef for his employer; he had gone from a kneeling position, while looking for food in walk-in cooler, to standing up when his knee "popped".  An "arising out of" determination requires an analysis of the claimant's employment and the work duties he or she was required or expected to perform. The risk posed to claimant from the act of standing from a kneeling position while looking for something was not distinctly related to, or incidental to, his employment, as he was not required to perform the specific activity of looking for food misplaced by a co-worker. Thus, Commission's determination that claimant was not injured due to an employment risk was supported by the record and not against manifest weight of evidence. (HUDSON and MOORE, concurring; HOLDRIDGE and HOFFMAN, specially concurring).