Illinois Workers’ Comp Exception Is Constitutional, Court Says

An Illinois statutory amendment broadening the ability for workers to sue for work-related diseases can apply to previously time-barred claims without violating due process, the Illinois Supreme Court said Friday.

The state high court answered three certified questions from the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit about the 2019 amendment to its Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act.

The Act creates a system to compensate workers for diseases they acquired on the job while barring them from suing in court over those conditions.

Illinois lawmakers updated the Act in 2019 by creating an exception allowing workers to sue over some ...