Court Opinion

ID: 9862044
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 00:58:43.569475+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:29:57.922852
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE RARICK, specially concurring in part and dissenting in part: I concur in that portion of the majority’s decision finding proper jurisdiction of the review proceeding. I dissent, however, with respect to the issue of compensability. I do not believe the Commission’s decision was against the manifest weight of the evidence. First, the determination of credibility is a matter for the Commission. Wagner Castings Co. v. Industrial Comm’n, 241 Ill. App. 3d 584, 594, 609 N.E.2d 397, 405 (1993). The Commission found claimant’s version and reports of the incident to be credible. We are not to reverse that determination merely because other inferences are also reasonable. Orisini v. Industrial Comm’n, 117 Ill. 2d 38, 44, 509 N.E.2d 1005, 1008 (1987); Wagner Castings, 241 Ill. App. 3d at 594, 609 N.E.2d at 405. Second, accidental injuries sustained in a parking lot either owned or controlled by an employer within a reasonable time before or after work are generally deemed to arise out of and in the course of employment, especially when the claimant’s injury was sustained as a result of the condition of employer’s premises. Archer Daniels Midland Co. v. Industrial Comm’n, 91 Ill. 2d 210, 215-16, 437 N.E.2d 609, 610-11 (1982); Hammel v. Industrial Comm’n, 253 Ill. App. 3d 900, 902, 626 N.E.2d 234, 236 (1993). Claimant’s car was parked in the area where employees were requested to park. This area was farther away from the store, thereby subjecting her to an increased risk of injury in traversing the icy lot. I agree with the Commission that claimant sufficiently established a causal connection between her employment and her injuries. I would therefore affirm the decision of the circuit court confirming the decision of the Commission. JUSTICE HOLDRIDGE joins in this dissent.