Wrongful Death Attorney serving Chicago and Surrounding Areas

Wrongful Death Attorney serving Chicago and Surrounding Areas

By James Allegretti

When a person dies because of negligence by another party, the law provides civil recourse to the family of the deceased by turning toward wrongful death litigation. This article from the Chicago Sun-Times depicts an unfortunate tragedy that led to wrongful death litigation. The article discusses the wrongful death lawsuits filed against the state’s child-welfare agency. The families state that the agency missed clear warning signs that the agency had put the children with other relatives in abusive households. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated situation because the Chicago Sun-Times has reported that the number of children dying while investigated or monitored by the Department of Children and Family Services has increased. 

 In the case of 3-year old Gina Presley, her paternal grandfather, James Fountas, stated in court filings that the young girl’s maternal grandmother had contacted the Illinois child-welfare agency and the Oak Forest Police Department several times. They contacted the agency because of a belief that Gina was abused by her legal guardian’s live-in boyfriend. Mr. Fountas alleges that the DCFS did not take any meaningful steps to prevent further abuse of the young girl. When the young girl died, authorities determined that blunt force trauma resulting from child abuse was responsible for her death. The live-in boyfriend is currently facing murder charges and is awaiting trial. The family of the young girl originally decided to bring lawsuits against the DCFS and the Oak Park Police Department, but has dropped their suit against the state agency when the agency claimed that they could not be sued because of sovereign immunity. The lawsuit against the Oak Park Police Department is still pending.

What should I know about wrongful death cases?

Wrongful death is a civil, rather than a criminal, claim. When a matter is a civil claim, it means that the plaintiff may have some type of right enforced or will receive damages for the defendant. If a party wins a claim for wrongful death, it has no bearing on whether the defendant is criminally liable or will go to prison. In a criminal case, the state must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime. In contrast, in a civil suit, the plaintiff must only demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant is culpable.

What are the elements of a wrongful death claim?

The elements needed to prove a wrongful death claim differ across states, but the state of Illinois provides legislation regarding the elements that the plaintiff must prove to win their case. In order to win such a claim, the plaintiff must usually prove that the defendant was negligent in his conduct, and that this behavior, in part or in whole, contributed to the death of the deceased. Because the person harmed by the defendant is deceased, a family member usually files a wrongful death lawsuit.

If you have any questions concerning wrongful death litigation in Illinois, please contact Allegretti & Associates. We are prepared to help you recover compensation for the tragic loss of your loved one.

 

The Battle over Northwestern Football’s Ability to Unionize

The Battle over Northwestern Football’s Ability to Unionize

By James Allegretti 

A recent post from Inside Higher Ed describes an incredibly important conflict occurring in Evanston. The article deals with the Northwestern University football team and whether they have the right to form a union. Northwestern University has urged the National Relations Labor Board to not classify the football players as university employees. Such a decision would reverse the regional director’s decision that had previously labelled the players as employees. Eight other private universities, six Republican members of Congress, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have filed amicus briefs to support the school in Evanston. The NCAA is particularly worried about how such a decision could affect the future of collegiate athletics.

The Northwestern football players had originally gone before the Chicago regional office of the labor board to unionize, and the director of the office agreed that scholarship football players at private universities were, in fact, employees. There was a similar case that the labor board dealt with in 2004 in which the National Relations Labor Board ruled that Brown University graduate teaching assistants were not eligible for collective bargaining. The director of the regional board distinguished between these two cases by asserting that unlike graduate students, whose teaching and research duties were closely linked to their graduate degree requirements, the football duties that the Northwestern University football players have are unrelated to their academic studies. Northwestern University is arguing that the decision concerning Brown University was correct and the problem with the regional board’s ruling is that they did not correctly apply the Brown decision to the case regarding Northwestern football players. 

The case will not only have an important effect in Evanston, IL but will affect private universities throughout the United States. The case regarding employment status at Northwestern is extremely important because it will play an important role on matters such as the compensation of collegiate football players and benefits that they are entitled to such as workers’ compensation.

What should I know about workers’ compensation in Illinois?

The state of Illinois changed a few aspects of the law regarding workers’ compensation in 2011, so it is important that you inform yourself regarding workers’ compensation laws and how they might affect a potential claim. An example of the change in laws regards the ability to pick doctors for treatment. Before the update, employees could choose two doctors for treatment. If they were unhappy with the treatment from the first doctor, they could find another doctor to provide care. The new legislation allows for the employee to see similarly see two doctors, although these doctors must be within an employer’s network of providers. This is known as the Preferred Provider Programs (PPP) and these providers must be approved by the Department of Insurance. Employees can decide to not participate in that program, but only have the ability to consult with one doctor outside of the network.

If you have questions regarding workers’ compensation and are in the greater Chicago area, you should contact Allegretti & Associates. We are here to help you obtain the workers’ compensation benefits to which you are rightfully entitled.