Illinois Repeals Workers’ Compensation Rule Change

By: Rich Lenkov

After a downstate judge granted a temporary restraining order (TRO), effectively nullifying the rule change granting a wide class of employees great latitude establishing COVID-19 cases, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission now has repealed the rule altogether.

While the restraining order was “temporary,” and set for briefs and oral arguments in May, in a conference call this morning Chairman Brennan stated that the time, expense and uncertainty of litigating the issue was prohibitive. 

We do not expect this to be the end of the story, however. We predict that Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker will effectuate these changes through an Executive Order, as governors in some other states have done. Remember that the TRO was granted because of “invalid lawmaking.” Since the governor can get around the legislature by using the powers vested in him by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, we expect an Executive Order imminently. 

Listen to our analysis of the repeal in the video below.