Arbitrator’s Decision in High-Exposure Stroke Claim

Congratulations to the Illinois Public Risk Fund and John Fassola for their win on behalf of the City of Kankakee in a case involving a catastrophic injury to a firefighter. The claimant had been cleaning and polishing vehicles on the apparatus floor when he was discovered non-responsive. It was determined he had suffered a carotid artery dissection leading to a stroke. Petitioner alleged that his activities in polishing the vehicles, requiring bending and reaching, were a cause of the dissection. However, we successfully argued that there was no evidence of what specific activities the claimant had been performing. Therefore, we were...

01 July

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Successful Defense Of Alleged Vaccination Injury

Posted by Sarah Cronin

in Significant Wins

Congratulations to the IRMA and John Fassola for their successful defense of a COVID-related claim on behalf of the Village of River Forest. More specifically, the claimant alleged a range of debilitating symptoms which she asserted had their onset from a COVID vaccination. She retained a well-known COVID and vaccination skeptic to provide an opinion on the relatedness of the symptoms, all of which were disputed by the defense. However, as a threshold issue, the Village maintained that her choice to obtain the vaccine, while it was administered at a Village facility, was entirely optional. We presented witnesses to rebut claimant’s...

19 December

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Power & Cronin Win for Pace Suburban Bus

Posted by Sarah Cronin

in Significant Wins

Congratulations to Pace Suburban Bus and Gina T. Panepinto for their successful hearing before IWCC Arbitrator Joseph Amarilio of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. The case involved a Bus Driver Petitioner that alleged injury to her left knee was exiting the bus stairs. The incident was viewed by 3 views in bus surveillance showing the Petitioner stepped down on her right foot, the opposite side of the alleged left knee injury. When cross examination elicited testimony that she did not feel any pain at the time of the incident, and felt a pop in her knee after she exited the employee...

14 December

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Michael Fuscone v. Village of Hanover Park

Posted by Sarah Cronin

in Significant Wins

Congratulations to IRMA, The Village of Hanover Park, and Gina T. Panepinto for the win and denial of claimed accident and benefits. The claimant firefighter made a report to his supervisor of left knee pain. The supervisor was a credible witness who documented the incident report of left knee pain, with no attributable work accident, activity or incident. The Arbitrator found the Petitioner failed to establish a work accident and that the left knee conditions were personal in nature. The Arbitrator found no Accident, and denied all benefits and awarded a credit to the Respondent of $26,625.03 for applicable medical charges...

17 August

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Another Win for Power & Cronin

Posted by Sarah Cronin

in Significant Wins

Congratulations to John Fassola and the University of Illinois for their win in a case with a very unusual fact pattern. The claimant was a student lab worker at the University and alleged that he contracted HIV as a result of exposure to infected blood samples. At trial, we were able to successfully argue multiple avenues denying the compensability of the case. First, we noted the fact that the claimant had not immediately reported the exposure, which made the credibility of his allegation questionable. We also used medical evidence to suggest that the timeframe between the alleged exposure and the...