Court Opinion

ID: 9736404
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 18:55:10.544981+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:27:06.514952
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE DONOVAN, specially concurring: While I join with the majority’s opinion, I write separately to emphasize the risks of making a boilerplate objection, as was done here. On appeal, employer argues that it was error to admit the billing statements into evidence, because claimant failed to lay a proper foundation to show that the charges for the medical services were usual and customary. However, this specific ground was not advanced at the time of the arbitration. According to the briefs, employer objected when claimant moved to admit his medical bills. Employer objected that “a proper foundation wasn’t laid” where claimant testified that “he had no personal knowledge as to the amount of the bill owed or, in fact, if anything at all was owed.” A party is required to make specific objections to evidence, based on particular grounds, and the failure to do so results in a waiver of objections as to all other grounds not specified or relied on. See Barreto v. City of Waukegan, 133 Ill. App. 3d 119, 130 (1985). Where the ground for objection is of a character that may be remedied or avoided, such as lack of foundation, the party objecting must point out the objection specifically, so that his opponent has the opportunity to correct it. See Central Steel & Wire Co. v. Coating Research Corp., 53 Ill. App. 3d 943, 945-46 (1977). Here the lack of a specific objection deprived claimant of the opportunity to correct or clarify his record. It also deprived the arbitrator of an opportunity to fully consider the issue at the time the evidence was presented. Under the present circumstances, I concur with the majority’s conclusion that the award of medical expenses should be set aside and the cause remanded to the Industrial Commission for the submission of additional evidence regarding the reasonableness of the medical expenses.