Court OK's Discrimination Suit Against Restaurant
Recent Cases
A California appeals court reinstated the discrimination claims of a disabled customer who was ridiculed and denied service at a restaurant.
Ron Wilson followed his occasional visits to Murillo's Mexican Food with letters to owner Frances Murillo, suggesting ways the restaurant could become more accessible.
Murillo spent about $130,000 to bring the restaurant into compliance with disability law.
But in March 2005, Murillo asked Wilson and a friend to leave, saying, "You guys are not welcome here, and you know that ... You're only here to harass me. You're not here for the food."
When Wilson refused, the bartender allegedly took his food while another employee took pictures of him, sarcastically telling him to "smile for the camera."
Wilson sued Murillo for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The district court ruled that the behavior was too trivial to be actionable, but Justice Ruvolo disagreed, stating that Wilson should be allowed to make his case.
Ruvolo said restaurants may not refuse to serve customers because the patrons filed ADA complaints against them.
The alleged intimidation and harassment would also constitute a violation of disability law, Ruvolo wrote.
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Does a car or truck accident count as a work injury?
If an employee is injured in a car crash while on the job, they are eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. “On the job” injuries are not limited to accidents and injuries that happen inside the workplace, they may also include injuries suffered away from an employee’s place of work while performing a job-related task, such as making a delivery or traveling to a client meeting.
Regular commutes to and from work don’t usually count. If you get into an accident on your way in on a regular workday, it’s probably not considered a work injury for the purposes of workers’ compensation.
If you drive around as part of your job, an injury on the road or loading/unloading accident is likely a work injury. If you don’t typically drive around for work but are required to drive for the benefit of your employer, that would be a work injury in many cases.
If you are out of town for work, pretty much any driving would count as work related. For traveling employees, any accidents or injuries that happen on a work trip, even while not technically working, can be considered a work injury. The reason is because you wouldn’t be in that town in the first place, had you not been on a work trip.
Workers’ compensation claims for truck drivers, traveling employees and work-related injuries that occur away from the job site can be challenging and complex. At Krol, Bongiorno & Given, we understand that many families depend on the income of an injured worker, and we are proud of our record protecting the injured and disabled. We have handled well over 30,000 claims for injured workers throughout the state of Illinois.