Oskroba v. Village of Hoffman Estates

SUPREME COURT CASES

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State: Illinois

Court: Workers' Compensation

Docket No: 1-09-2634WC Rel

Case Date: 09/02/2010

Preview:FOURTH DIVISION September 2, 2010

No. 1-09-2634 JAMES S. OSKROBA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. THE VILLAGE OF HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILLINOIS, and its manager JAMES H. NORRIS, Defendants-Appellees. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County No. 08 CH 41972

Honorable William O. Maki, Judge Presiding.

PRESIDING JUSTICE GALLAGHER delivered the opinion of the court: Plaintiff James Oskroba appeals from an order of the circuit court of Cook County affirming the ruling of the Village of Hoffman Estates (Village) denying him and his spouse insurance coverage under the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (Employee Benefits Act) (820 ILCS 320/1 et seq. (West 2006)). On appeal, plaintiff contends that the Village erred by ruling that he was not entitled to benefits under the Employee Benefits Act and that he is entitled to reimbursement for payments he made to maintain health insurance under the Attorneys Fees in Wage Actions Act (Wage Actions Act) (705 ILCS 225/0.01 et seq. (West 2006)). We affirm. BACKGROUND Plaintiff filed a request for disability pension health insurance benefits under the Employee Benefits Act with the Village. On September 2, 2008, James Norris, a hearing officer for the Village, conducted a hearing at which plaintiff testified that he had been working for the Village Fire Department for 37 years prior to going on a line-of-duty disability pension from the

1-09-2634 firefighters pension fund. Plaintiff was married, and his wife did not have health insurance. Plaintiff further testified that on the morning of March 13, 2006, he was working as a firefighter EMT driver when a fire engine returned to the station after responding to a fire. Lieutenant Wayne Rothbauer ordered plaintiff and others to service the engine, and plaintiff considered it to be an emergency situation because the engine needed to be serviced immediately so that it would be available to respond to a call. Plaintiff injured his left shoulder while lifting a fire hose to place it on the truck. Plaintiff explained that the engine he was servicing was the only one in the station and that the closest station with an engine was 7 to 10 miles away. On crossexamination, plaintiff stated that there was not another call pending when he was injured while servicing the engine. Village Fire Chief Robert Gorvett testified that when a fire truck returns from a call in which the hose has been used, it is normal practice to remove the wet hose and replace it with a dry hose. In the event an emergency call is received while an engine is temporarily out of service, the call would be assigned to the next closest vehicle. Fire Chief Gorvett opined that plaintiff was not responding to an emergency when he injured his arm. On cross-examination, Fire Chief Gorvett stated that the nearest station to plaintiff's was about 4

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