Ioerger v. Halverson Construction Co., Inc., et al., No. 3-06-0367 (3rd Dist. 2007)

(Unpublished appellate court decision affirming the entry of summary judgment in favor of St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company in a catastrophic personal injury case. The Ioerger case arose out of an accident where a suspended scaffold detached from beneath McCluggage Bridge in Peoria, Illinois sending five ironworkers into the Illinois River killing three of them and seriously injuring a fourth.  In addition to various contractors at the project, the Plaintiffs sued St. Paul directly in light of a contract St. Paul entered into with the Plaintiffs’ employer. St. Paul and the other defendants filed motions for summary judgment on the grounds that they were immune from liability pursuant to the exclusive remedy provision of the Workers’ Compensation Act.  820 ILCS 305/5(a).  The trial court granted the motions for summary judgment, and the appellate court affirmed).