Bremer v. The City of Rockford

Illinois Supreme Court PLAs
Civil Court
Pension Code
Citation
PLA issue Date: 
January 20, 2016
Docket Number: 
Nos. 119889 & 119912 Cons.
District: 
2nd Dist.

This case presents question as to whether trial court property granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in action by plaintiff seeking health care benefits under Public Safety Employee Benefits Act, where plaintiff had previously obtained occupational disease disability pension due to his heart condition under section 4-110.1 of Ill. Pension Code. Appellate Court agreed with trial court that term “catastrophic injury” as used in section 10(a) of Benefits Act includes line-of-duty disability occupational diseases under section 4-110.1 of Pension Code, but reversed trial court’s issuance of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff, where there was question of fact as to whether plaintiff’s cardiomyopathy was result of his response to what he reasonably believed to be emergency under section 10(b) of Benefits Act. Both trial court and Appellate Court rejected plaintiff’s related claim that he was entitled to attorney’s fees under Attorney Fee in Wage Action Act, since any benefits plaintiff might receive under section 10 of Benefits Act cannot be considered “wages” under Wage Actions Act. (Partial dissent filed.)