Paz v. Commonwealth Edison

732 N.E.2d 696, 314 Ill. App. 3d 591, 247 Ill. Dec. 641, 2000 Ill. App. LEXIS 517
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 27, 2000
Docket2-99-0028
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 732 N.E.2d 696 (Paz v. Commonwealth Edison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Paz v. Commonwealth Edison, 732 N.E.2d 696, 314 Ill. App. 3d 591, 247 Ill. Dec. 641, 2000 Ill. App. LEXIS 517 (Ill. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

JUSTICE McLAREN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Michael Paz, appeals from the jury’s verdict in favor of defendant, Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd). We affirm.

Plaintiff was an employee of ComEd when he was injured on the job. On August 16, 1989, a large piece of metal fell from an overhead crane and landed on the grate upon which plaintiff was standing. Plaintiff was thrown against a railing and struck on the knees by the piece of metal. During the next two years, plaintiff on occasion returned to work part-time and performed light-duty tasks. Plaintiff was paid in excess of $51,000 in workers’ compensation benefits during the period of his disability, and medical bills of almost $25,000 were also paid. Eventually, plaintiff and ComEd settled on total workers’ compensation benefits of $115,000, which was approved by the Industrial Commission. Plaintiff was examined by several doctors during this period, including his personal physician and a doctor employed by ComEd. Plaintiffs ability to work was often disputed by these doctors. Eventually, on the morning of November 7, 1991, plaintiff was examined by Dr. Fitzpatrick, who was employed by ComEd. The parties dispute whether Fitzpatrick at that time released plaintiff to work full-time. Plaintiff did not report to work on November 7, and he was terminated that day.

Plaintiff filed suit, alleging retaliatory discharge, and his second amended complaint proceeded to a jury trial after the court denied motions for summary judgment and judgment on the pleadings. The jury returned a verdict in ComEd’s favor. Plaintiffs posttrial motion was denied. This appeal followed.

Plaintiff first contends that he was entitled to summary judgment on the issue of liability. However, an order denying a motion for summary judgment is not reviewable after an evidentiary trial, as any error in the denial is merged in the subsequent trial. Contract Development Corp. v. Beck, 255 Ill. App. 3d 660, 664 (1994). Therefore, we will address this contention in the context of whether the jury’s verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence. A verdict is against the manifest weight of the evidence only where conclusions opposite those reached by the jury are clearly evident, plain, and undisputable. Moore v. Anchor Organization for Health Maintenance, 284 Ill. App. 3d 874, 880 (1996).

The general rule in Illinois is that an at-will employee may be discharged by the employer at any time and for any reason. Buckner v. Atlantic Plant Maintenance, Inc., 182 Ill. 2d 12, 17-18 (1998). (Although plaintiff herein was a union member, the union contract was not involved in this case and the plaintiff was an at-will employee for all relevant purposes in this litigation.) However, our supreme court recognized a limited exception to this rule in Kelsay v. Motorola, Inc., 74 Ill. 2d 172 (1978), when it determined that a plaintiff who was terminated for pursuing workers’ compensation benefits could bring an action for retaliatory discharge against the former employer. See Buckner, 182 Ill. 2d at 18. The supreme court has deflected many attempts to expand this tort and has maintained retaliatory discharge as a limited and narrow exception to the general rule of at-will discharges. See Buckner, 182 Ill. 2d at 18-20. To state a cause of action for retaliatory discharge, a claimant must allege that (1) he was an employee of the defendant before or at the time of the injury; (2) he exercised some right granted by the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) (820 ILCS 305/1 et seq. (West 1996)); and (3) his discharge was causally related to the exercise of that right under the Act. Clark v. Owens-Brockway Glass Container, Inc., 297 Ill. App. 3d 694, 697 (1998). The element of causation is not met if the employer has a valid, nonpretextual basis for discharging the employee. Hartlein v. Illinois Power Co., 151 Ill. 2d 142, 160 (1992). Excess absenteeism, even caused by a compensable injury, may be a valid reason for dismissal, and an employer is under no obligation to retain an at-will employee who is medically unable to return to his assigned position. Hartlein, 151 Ill. 2d at 159-60.

Here, there is no question that plaintiff was employed by ComEd at the time of the injury or that plaintiff exercised his right to benefits under the Act. However, the jury concluded that plaintiffs discharge was not causally related to his exercise of rights under the Act. This conclusion was not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Plaintiff was discharged more than two years after he was injured and began receiving benefits under the Act. He had not reported to work for approximately five months at the time of his firing and did not report on November 7, the date on which ComEd discharged him after determining that the plaintiff could not or would not do full-time work. ComEd only had eight-hour-a-day restricted-duty work available. Plaintiff refused to work eight hours a day. The evidence does not so overwhelmingly favor plaintiff that no contrary verdict could stand. Therefore, the jury’s verdict was not against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Plaintiff cites Clark as controlling. In that case, Clark injured her back on March 3, 1991, and began receiving temporary total disability payments on March 13. After initially agreeing with Clark’s family physician’s course of treatment, the employer, Owens-Brockway, “suspected that Clark was malingering.” Clark, 297 Ill. App. 3d at 696. On May 23, 1992, Clark was videotaped mowing her lawn. She was suspended on June 1 and was fired, after a hearing, on June 3. In Clark’s suit for retaliatory discharge, the trial court granted summary judgment in Clark’s favor on the issue of liability. The appellate court affirmed, concluding that summary judgment in Clark’s favor “was proper because her discharge was directly and proximately related to her claim for benefits.” Clark, 297 Ill. App. 3d at 698. The court stated that “[a]n employer may discharge an injured employee who has filed a workers’ compensation claim as long as the reason for the discharge is wholly unrelated to the employee’s claim for benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act.” Clark, 297 Ill. App. 3d at 698. However, “[a]n employer may not discharge an employee on the basis of a dispute about the extent or duration of a compensable injury.” Clark, 297 Ill. App. 3d at 699. The court found as ««disputed the fact that Clark was discharged because Owens-Brockway believed that her claim for benefits was exaggerated. Clark, 297 Ill. App. 3d at 698.

The dissent also relies on Clark, arguing that, because “a dispute over whether plaintiff could work eight-hour days existed,” ComEd discharged plaintiff on the basis of that dispute. 314 Ill. App. 3d at 607. However, we find Clark distinguishable. Clark involved the review of a grant of summary judgment in an uncontested factual scenario; the cause did not go to verdict. The Clark court found that the evidence that Clark’s discharge was directly related to her claim for benefits was “undisputed.” In the case before us, the evidence was disputed. ComEd has presented evidence that plaintiff was fired for not returning to work after he had been released to work full-time and that it had no part-time work for plaintiff. Plaintiff and the dissent would have this court take the Clark holding that an employee may not be discharged “on the basis of a dispute about the extent or duration of a compensable injury” (Clark, 297 Ill. App.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

MKM Oil, Inc. v. Welk
2025 IL App (4th) 240284-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2025)
Van Hoose v. Comcast Cable Communications, LLC
2025 IL App (1st) 240444-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2025)
Downey v. Downey+Rippe LLC
2021 IL App (2d) 200572-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2021)
Siwak v. Xylem Inc.
N.D. Illinois, 2021
Gomez v. Garda CL Great Lakes, Inc.
76 F. Supp. 3d 788 (N.D. Illinois, 2014)
C. Szabo Contracting, Inc. v. Lorig Construction Company
2014 IL App (2d) 131328 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2014)
C. Szabo Contracting, Inc. v. Lorig Construction Company
2014 IL App (2d) 131328 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2014)
Stevenson v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc.
69 F. Supp. 3d 792 (N.D. Illinois, 2014)
James Brooks v. Pactiv Corporation
729 F.3d 758 (Seventh Circuit, 2013)
Holland v. Schwan's Home Service, Inc.
2013 IL App (5th) 110560 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2013)
Grabs v. Safeway, Inc.
917 N.E.2d 122 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2009)
Turner v. Memorial Medical Center
911 N.E.2d 369 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2009)
Moy v. Ng
864 N.E.2d 752 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007)
Moy v. Winsen NG
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007
Webber v. Wight & Co.
858 N.E.2d 579 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2006)
Webber v. Wight & Company
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2006
Murphy v. Jason, Inc.
362 F. Supp. 2d 976 (N.D. Illinois, 2005)
Pietruszynski v. McClier Corp.
788 N.E.2d 82 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2003)
Taffe v. Illinois Department of Employment Security
229 F. Supp. 2d 858 (N.D. Illinois, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
732 N.E.2d 696, 314 Ill. App. 3d 591, 247 Ill. Dec. 641, 2000 Ill. App. LEXIS 517, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/paz-v-commonwealth-edison-illappct-2000.