Source: https://www.kfeej.com/article-jurisdiction-in-illinois-workers-compensation-cases-the.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 07:05:01+00:00

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Since the first Workers’ Compensation Act, previously referred to as the Workmen’s Compensation Act, was enacted in 1911 in Illinois, courts have pondered such jurisdictional issues. Creative lawyering had a way of swaying the courts’ interpretations over the years. However, as we approach the statute’s century mark, the jurisdictional controversy, most recently raised in several appellate court decisions that considered whether Illinois properly confers jurisdiction over employment injuries sustained by a worker outside the state if the employment contract for hire was made in Illinois, has been put to rest. This article will review the Mahoney v. Indus. Comm’n decision, which answered this jurisdictional question, and the landmark “contract for hire” cases, which shaped the landscape for the Mahoney decision.
In Mahoney, the claimant was hired by United Airlines as a ramp serviceman at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. The contract for hire took place in 1969. In 1993, after twenty-four-years of service in Chicago, he voluntarily transferred to United’s facility at Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida. Following his transfer, he returned to Illinois approximately three times for training sessions and also returned for family visits. On May 19, 1999 and January 2, 2001, the claimant sustained accidents in Orlando, Florida while working for United Airlines. The claimant filed applications for adjustment of claims for both injuries in Illinois, and the cases were consolidated.
The Carroll and Rankins Decisions had changed the “contract of hire” analysis. Instead of the contract for hire in Illinois controlling the jurisdictional issue, these Appellate Court cases applied a factual analysis and totality-of-the-circumstances type test in assessing out of state injuries, and found that the contract for hire was but one of the factors to review. These cases became pivotal decisions.
In United Airlines v. Industrial Commission (hereafter referred to as Rankins), the claimant was hired as a flight attendant for United Airlines in 1969. Her contract for hire was found to have taken place in Illinois, and she was initially domiciled in New York where she lived until 1972 at which time she requested a transfer to Los Angeles, CA. Her seniority was unaffected by the change in domicile, and she continued to work out of Los Angeles until May 1975, at which time she voluntarily transferred to San Francisco, CA. In 1983, while domiciled in CA, she sustained an injury while on a flight that originated in California and was destined for Oregon. The claimant lived in California at the time of the accident. The appellate court agreed that the contract for hire took place in Illinois, and noted that “[t]he place where the contract for employment is made is the place where the last act necessary to give validity to the contract occurred.”12 The court went on to find that the Act “may” be applied to nonresidents of Illinois, who are injured outside of Illinois and who have entered into a contract for hire in Illinois.13 Citing Carroll, the court reiterated the proposition that the site of the contract for hire “is not the exclusive test for determining the applicability of the Act, but is only one of the factors the Commission is to consider within the totality of the arrangements.”14 The court focused on the voluntary transfer and reasoned that the claimant surrendered any right under the Illinois Act by voluntarily choosing another State in which to work when she could have chosen Illinois. The court also noted that she preferred to live in another state and that 14 years lapsed between the contract for hire and her accident without significant contact with Illinois.15 Analogous to the holding in Carroll, the appellate court denied Illinois jurisdiction. After the Carroll and Rankins decisions, it appeared that the contract for hire and the extraterritorial provision of the statute had become severely eroded, if not abolished.
The Mahoney Court found that these cases provided a “clear direction” consistently reaffirming that the contract for hire is a singular basis for jurisdiction in Illinois.28 Therefore, because Mahoney’s original Illinois contract of hire was still in effect when he was injured in Florida, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the Appellate Court’s holding, which found that Illinois retained jurisdiction. Hence, Mahoney was able to pursue the benefits in Illinois.
The Mahoney decision has eliminated the need for the five factor test/totality-of-thecircumstances analysis to determine jurisdiction so long as the contract for hire takes place in Illinois. It appears that this is precisely what the Illinois legislature intended when it amended the statute in 1925, and it is consistent with the Illinois Supreme Court holdings dating back to the Beall decision in 1930. Mahoney has reestablished that the “contract for hire” provision under Section 1(b)(2) is the sole and exclusive test for confirming Illinois jurisdiction in a workers’ compensation case. This avails injured individuals, who are nonresidents and whose employment and injury takes place out of state, the option of pursuing Illinois benefits so long as the contract for hire takes place here.
With many states following the trend of curtailing workers’ compensation benefits, Illinois has been steadfast in protecting injured workers rights and recoveries. In Illinois, injured employees still have the right to choose their own medical providers, benefits for lost time (referred to as temporary total disability benefits or TTD), and fair/equitable permanency recoveries. Therefore, filing a workers’ compensation claim in Illinois is a wonderful option for such injured individuals.
820 ILCS 305 (2006) (amended Nov. 16, 2005).
Mahoney, 843 N.E.2d 317 at 319.
Carroll v. Indus. Comm’n 563 N.E.2d 890 (Ill. App. Ct. 1990).
United Airlines v. Indus. Comm’n, 627 N.E.2d 1104 (Ill. App. Ct. 1993).
Mahoney v. United Airlines, No. 01 W.C. 17685, No. 01 W.C. 6100, consolidated, No. 03 I.I.C. 0162 (March 6, 2003). Mahoney v. Indus. Comm’n (United Airlines), 823 N.E.2d 110, 111-112 (Ill. App. Ct. 2005).
Carroll, 563 N.E.2d 890 at 892.
Mahoney, 823 N.E.2d 110 at 116. On denial of rehearing, all of the justices filed a statement that this case involved a substantial question warranting consideration by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Laws 1913, § 5, p. 335.
Mahoney, quoting Union Bridge & Construction Co. v. Indus. Comm’n,122 N.E. 609 (1919) (emphasis added).
Laws 1925, § 5, p.380 (app. May 1925) (emphasis added). Beall Brothers Supply Co. v. Indus. Comm’n, 172 N.E. 64 (1930).
Ill.Comp. Stat. Ann. at 122 (Smith-Hurd 2004); Mahoney, 843 N.E.2d 317 at 322.
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Indus. Comm’n, 404 N.E.2d 253 (1980).
This decision, still good law today, underscores the need for the Illinois employment contract to remain in force at the time of the accident.
United Airlines v. Indus. Comm’n (Walker), 449 N.E.2d 119 (1983).
Mahoney, 843 N.E.2d 317 at 324.
Phil earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois and graduated with distinction in 1988. He earned his law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology and graduated with high honors in 1991. While in law school, he was chosen to extern with Federal District Court Judge Rovner, currently a United States Justice in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as a Federal Magistrate. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Illinois Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association, American Association for Justice, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association.
With special thanks to attorney Margaret C. Man and Brooks Anthony.

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