Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog

Law For Workers Exposed To Toxic Substances

Published on: April 8, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

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New Proposed Legislation for Illinois Workers Exposed to Toxic Substance Injuries Now Sits with Governor Pritzker

The Illinois General Assembly has passed Senate Bill 1596, which is now at the hands of the new Governor awaiting passage to become a law. The legislation will allow workers to file a claim for benefits after being exposed to harmful substances (such as asbestos or beryllium) and later develop symptoms of injury or disease after the statutes of limitations has run out. The current 25-year time bar has made it nearly impossible for those workers to seek support thru the Illinois civil courts for assistance in recovery from their occupational diseases. SB 1596 would amend sections of the state’s current Workers’ Compensation Act and the Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act and applies to cases in which the statutes of limitations preclude recovery.

25-Year Timeline for Toxin-Related Employer Liability

4 Illinois Immigrant Shelters Will Close

Published on: March 25, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

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4 Illinois Immigrant Shelters Will Close After Repeated Incidents of Child Maltreatment

For more than 20 years, the Chicago area has been the temporary home to many migrant children detained after crossing the border. Some of these young immigrants were either alone or were taken from their immigrant parents to now be overseen by the U.S. Health and Human Services department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. Currently, the largest caretaker for these children in Illinois is a 130-year-old nonprofit, Heartland Human Care Services, part of Heartland Alliance. ProPublica Illinois published a detailed report on December 21, 2018 which revealed several Heartland facilities had been involved in a series of disturbing federal investigations focused on the alleged abuse and neglect of migrant children.

Heartland is in the news again as the group announced it will close four shelters by the end of May. The shelters to be closed are located in the suburban Chicago community of Des Plaines and located on the campus of Maryville Academy, a Catholic child welfare agency. Heartland officials released a memo stating that the group also plans to add staff, employee care training and other resources at its remaining five facilities located in Chicago’s Rogers Park, Bronzeville, Englewood and Beverly neighborhoods. The closings are likely in response to the current administration’s zero-tolerance immigration push and related challenges, as well as in reflection of an ending lease on these facilities. Heartland officials say they plan to move children out of the Des Plaines shelters starting immediately.

Death Report Released From Child Services

Published on: February 28, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

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2018 Report Shows Nearly 100 Children Died While Involved in Illinois Welfare System

Each year, the Office of the Inspector General investigates deaths and serious injuries of Illinois children whose families were involved in the child welfare system. The Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) Office has released a report by Acting Inspector General Meryl Paniak stating 98 children involved with the child welfare agency died in fiscal year 2018. The deaths were investigated between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018. No names or exact locations were used in the report but Cook County was home to the highest number of deceased children connected to the system compared to the rest of the state.

Paniak expressed concern in a letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration and the General Assembly saying, “The incidence of child maltreatment is deeply influenced by poverty, violence, mental health and substance use. System-wide collaboration and data-sharing across multiple service sectors—child welfare, juvenile justice, early childhood, education, public health, and behavioral and mental health fields—are essential to improving child and family safety and well-being on a broad scale.”

Companies Behaving Badly Part 7: USA Gymnastics & Michigan State

Published on: February 19, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

As part of a weeklong series, the personal injury attorneys of Chicago’s Levin & Perconti have been highlighting the list of companies named by the American Association for Justice (AAJ) as having the “Worst Corporate Conduct of 2018.” These companies have each engaged in behaviors that have emotionally and physically harmed patients, clients, customers, employees, and young female student athletes.

Larry Nassar, the now imprisoned former doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University Athletics, has landed both of his employers as the final “bad businesses” on the list. While employed by both the University and big-business funded USA Gymnastics, Dr. Larry Nassar was able to sexually abuse hundreds of young women. Since at least the late 1990s, high level employees at Michigan State had been aware of allegations against Dr. Nassar and had actively engaged in multiple coverups of these incidences.

Last year, Larry Nassar was sentenced to a minimum of 40-125 years in prison as the result of both federal and state charges of sexual assault of both adults and minors, as well as possession of child pornography.

Update: Sterigenics Plant in Willowbrook Has Been Shut Down

Published on: February 18, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

“Emissions are continuing to contribute to ambient levels of ethylene oxide in the atmosphere. This impact creates an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health.”

-John Kim, Acting Director of the Illinois EPA

On Friday, relying on new data from independent 30 day continuous air quality tests ordered by Willowbrook village officials, Governor Pritzker overruled the U.S. EPA and, in tandem with the Illinois EPA, ordered the immediate closure of Sterigenics.

Companies Behaving Badly Part 6: Largest Food Maker Accused of Child Slavery

Published on: February 17, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

As part of a weeklong series, the personal injury attorneys of Chicago’s Levin & Perconti have been highlighting the list of companies named by the American Association for Justice (AAJ) as having the “Worst Corporate Conduct of 2018.” These companies have each engaged in behaviors that have emotionally and physically harmed patients, clients, customers, employees, and young female student athletes.

Today, we’re focusing on the alleged human rights violations committed by Nestlé USA.

A group of former child slaves are forcing Nestlé USA to acknowledge and make amends for their role in not only allowing, but allegedly encouraging child slavery at cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast of Africa. The Ivory Coast, or the Côte d’Ivoire, supplies the majority of the nation’s cocoa and is known for allowing child labor in order to sell mass amounts of cheap cocoa to the world’s chocolate manufacturers.

Companies Behaving Badly Part 5: Blood Testing Company Deceives Patients, Investors

Published on: February 16, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

In 2003, a 19-year-old Stanford University dropout named Elizabeth Holmes launched Theranos, a Silicon Valley startup that promised quick blood tests at a lower cost than a traditional lab. Raising millions from private investors, Theranos claimed that just a few drops of blood sent away to their lab could be screened for a long list of health conditions, all at a cost of less than $3. By 2018, the company was bankrupt and founder Elizabeth Holmes was charged with 9 counts of federal wire fraud, as well as 2 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The company officially closed its doors in September 2018.

Real Partnership with Walgreens, False Claims of Association with Department of Defense

Business really began to boom when Theranos partnered with Walgreens in 2013. Forty Walgreens locations across the country would carry Theranos’ Edison blood testing device, which the company claimed could quickly and cheaply screen for a myriad of disease. It has been claimed that Walgreens blindly agreed to a deal without personally testing the device’s accuracy to avoid a competitor partnering with Theranos first. Soon after, questions began being raised about the accuracy of blood tests allegedly run on the Edison device. A class action lawsuit filed in California by Theranos patients alleges that the company’s tests falsely diagnosed them with diseases they didn’t have. Clinical scientists suspect that such small samples of blood (which is all Theranos claimed to have needed) would then have had to be diluted to be run on standard blood testing machines. This dilution leads to less accurate test results and is not considered acceptable practice for blood-based lab tests. Walgreens ended its partnership with Theranos and sued them for breach of contract in June 2016.

Companies Behaving Badly Part 4: General Motors Refusing Takata Recall

Published on: February 14, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

On Monday, we began a week long feature on our blog about major companies and organizations that engaged in poor corporate conduct. The list of these companies and their bad deeds are courtesy of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), a group committed to preserving Americans right to a trial by jury. The list, officially titled “Worst Corporate Conduct of 2018” can be found here.

Today’s focus is on General Motors and their refusal to recall their newer model cars equipped with Takata airbags. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “Roughly 37 million vehicles equipped with 50 million defective Takata air bags are under recall. Long-term exposure to high heat and humidity can cause these air bags to explode when deployed. Such explosions have caused injuries and deaths.” NHTSA also says that an additional 15-20 million airbags will be recalled by December of this year.

To date, at least 24 people have died from defective Takata airbags and nearly 300 have been injured.

Companies Behaving Badly Part 3: State Farm Auto Insurance

Published on: February 13, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

On Monday, we began a week long feature on our blog about major companies and organizations that engaged in poor corporate conduct. The list of these companies and their bad deeds are courtesy of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), a group committed to preserving Americans right to a trial by jury. The list, officially titled “Worst Corporate Conduct of 2018” can be found here.

Today’s focus is on State Farm, the Bloomington, Illinois-based company that provides a full spectrum of insurance, from auto to pet coverage. State Farm is currently the largest provider of auto insurance in the U.S. Unfortunately, last year they were also found to have been in violation of something called the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal law better known as the RICO Act.

Read below to find out what, exactly, landed them on the bad businesses list.

Companies Behaving Badly Part 2: Major U.S. Oil Companies Deny Climate Change

Published on: February 12, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

Yesterday, we began a week long feature on our blog about major companies and organizations that engaged in poor corporate conduct. The list of these companies and their bad deeds are courtesy of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), a group committed to preserving Americans right to a trial by jury. The list, officially titled “Worst Corporate Conduct of 2018” can be found here.

Today, we’re focusing on the oil industry and major U.S. players who have denied any knowledge of their role in climate change, despite evidence proving otherwise. These 5 oil behemoths, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell were also co-defendants in a lawsuit filed by the City of New York. Read below to find out what, exactly, landed them on the bad businesses list.

New York City Wants Big Oil to Pay