Hagene v. Derek Polling Construction

State: Illinois

Court: 5th District Appellate

Docket No: 5-07-0225 Rel

Case Date: 02/24/2009

Preview:NO. 5-07-0225
N O T IC E Decision filed 02/24/09. The text of this dec ision m ay b e changed or corrected prior to the P e t i ti o n for filing of a or the

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

Re hea ring

FIFTH DISTRICT ________________________________________________________________________ THOMAS HAGENE, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Petitioner-Appellant, ) Perry County. ) v. ) No. 07-MR-2 ) DEREK POLLING CONSTRUCTION, ) Honorable ) James W. Campanella, Respondent-Appellee. ) Judge, presiding ________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE CHAPMAN delivered the opinion of the court: The petitioner appeals an order of the trial court dismissing his petition to enter a judgment in accordance with a final decision of the Industrial Commission pursuant to section 19(g) of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/19(g) (West 2006)). He filed this petition after agreeing to a lump-sum settlement with the respondent. The settlement indicated that the respondent had paid all the petitioner's medical bills; however, three past medical bills remained unpaid. The petitioner argues on appeal that the court erroneously found that the lump-sum settlement relieved the respondent of its obligation to pay his outstanding past medical bills. We reverse. On June 16, 2003, the petitioner, Thomas Hagene, was injured in a work-related accident when he fell from the scaffolding at a construction site. As a result of the accident, he suffered injuries affecting his left arm and shoulder (requiring surgery), right leg, and lumbar spine. He received temporary total disability benefits for a period of 39 weeks, and then he returned to work. On July 5, 2005, arbitrator John Dibble approved a workers' compensation lump-sum

disposition of the same.

1

settlement between the petitioner and his employer, respondent Derek Polling Construction. The settlement is on a form agreement prepared by the respondent. The first page contains a section called "Medical Expenses." In that section, there is a space to place a check on a line indicating whether the employer has or has not paid all the medical bills. Here, the employer checked that it had paid all the medical bills. Following that, there is an instruction to "[l]ist unpaid bills in the space below." That space is empty. The first page also contains a section entitled "Temporary Total Disability Benefits." That section provides spaces on which the parties can indicate the beginning and ending dates of the period that an employee was totally temporarily disabled. Both spaces are filled in with "Disputed

Download Hagene v. Derek Polling Construction.pdf