United States: “One Day of Rest in Seven” Act Does Not Trump Workers’ Compensation Exclusive Remedy Defense

In a case construing Illinois law, a federal district court held that the state's “One Day Rest in Seven Act” (“ODRA”) [820 Ill. Comp. Stat. 140/1 et seq.] may not be used to circumvent the exclusive remedy of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act. Accordingly, where the family of the deceased employee filed a wrongful death action against the deceased’s employer contending, in relevant part, that the deceased had been intentionally forced to work more than 40 hours per week and had been denied a full day of rest, as called for in the statute, the action still could not proceed. The employer was immune from tort liability.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Webster v. Firstexpress, Inc., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44575 (N.D. Ill., Mar. 19, 2019)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 100.03.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law

For a more detailed discussion of the case, see