Chicago Injury Attorney Blog

In Cook County Circuit Court, two Illinois personal injury lawsuits have been filed seeking financial recovery from US Airways and Southwest Airlines, respectively. The alleged injuries took place while the planes were in flight.

On Friday, Diana Burgess filed her Cook County injury complaint against U.S. Airways for injuries she sustained while on a flight to Chicago in August 2008. Burgess contends that she experienced emotional and physical trauma because the airline allowed a passenger to take a skateboard that came with “heavy sharp metal wheels” on the plane. The person stowed the skateboard in the compartment over her head but there was nothing to keep it in place.

She is seeking unspecified damages.

In another Cook County injury complaint, this one involving injuries to a minor, the skies may have been a little too friendly for the plaintiff. The Chicago man is suing Southwest Airlines because he claims that the airline’s flight attendants failed to protect the teenager during a flight headed to Orlando, Florida on July 13, 2008 from the sexual advances of an older female who also allegedly offered him drugs.

The father is accusing the flight attendant of ignoring the boy’s requests that he be transferred to another seat. His father says that the experience scared the teenager to the degree that he refused to fly home by himself. His dad had to fly over to get him so they could travel together.

In his Cook County injuries to a minor complaint, the plaintiff is seeking over $50,000 in damages.

Suit: Passenger hurt on flight after skateboard stored above her head, Sun-Times, July 23, 2010

Suit: Woman injured by falling skateboard on plane, Chicago Breaking News, July 23, 2010

Man says son was sexually harassed on flight, MSNBC, July 13, 2010

Related Web Resource:
Nolo

A $1.5 million Illinois injury settlement has been reached in the DuPage County sex abuse lawsuits filed by the families of 13 former gymnastics students against former coach Michael Cardamone, his mother Linda Lynch, and American Institute of Gymnastics. Lynch owns the Aurora gym.

According to the plaintiffs, Cardamone allegedly sexually abused the girls at the gym over several years. They are accusing Lynch of failing to properly supervise Cardamone even after she heard the complaints against him.

In 2005, the 32-year-old was convicted of molesting seven of the girls. He was sentenced to a 20-year prison term, but an appeals court overturned the verdict in 2008. He is waiting for a retrial.

Despite the DuPage County sex settlement, Cardamone’s family continues to claim that he is innocent of the allegations.

Child Sex Abuse
According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, about 80,000 child sex abuse incidents are reported each year. Many sex abuse cases go unreported. The abuser can be a family member, a teacher, a coach, a counselor, a doctor, another person the child knows and trusts, or a stranger.

Sex abuse causes personal injury. In addition to physical injuries from sexual assault or rape, the emotional damage and psychological trauma sustained can last a lifetime. Other effects of sex abuse:

• Sleep issues
• Depression
• Sexual issues
• Aggressiveness
• Suicidal tendencies
• Alcoholism
• Alcoholism
• Drug addition
• Post traumatic stress disorder

Victims and their families may have grounds for filing a Chicago sex abuse lawsuit against the abuser. Even if the abuse happened when the victim was younger, you may still be able to recover Chicago injury damages.

13 gymnasts to split $1.5 million to settle suit against former coach Michael Cardamone, Chicago Sun-TImes, January 4, 2010

Michael Cardamone case: Suits against Aurora coach in sex abuse cases settled for $1.5 million, Chicago Tribune, January 5, 2010

Related Web Resources:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-cardamone-05-jan05,0,7415821.story
Child Sexual Abuse, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry

American Institute of Gymnastics

A $1.2 million civil settlement was paid to a man who sued Catholic Diocese of Belleville for clergy sex abuse. The plaintiff had accused Rev. Raymond Kownacki of molesting him when he was an altar boy at a parish in Salem, Illinois.

This is the first time since the early 90’s that the Belleville Diocese has paid to settle a clergy sex abuse victim’s injury case.

The plaintiff’s Illinois sex abuse lawsuit is not the only one naming Rev. Raymond Kownacki as the molester. Last year, a jury awarded Champaign resident James Wisniewski, who also accused Kownacki of molesting him, $5 million. Evidence that church officials knew the priest was molesting boys and girls during the 70’s and ‘80’s but did nothing to protect the public was presented during the civil trial.

The two plaintiffs were able to successfully argue that they were entitled to sue for Illinois child sex abuse even though the statute of limitations had expired. For them, the statute didn’t start running until when they realized that the molestation had psychologically damaged them.

A recent decision by the Illinois Supreme Court about the statute of limitations now virtually prevents sex abuse victims born before January 1, 1964 from suing over the abuse. On September 24, the court ruled that adult survivors of child sex abuse who became aware before 2001 of the trauma they suffered should have filed their complaints prior to 2003. A new amendment that year gave victims either 5 years after they realized they were abused or until they turned 28 to sue for sex abuse.

Sexual Abuse
The damages resulting from being a victim of sex abuse are often invisible to the naked eyes of others. However, for the victims, the emotional and psychological and sexual traumas they suffer from the molestation, sexual assault, or rape can last a lifetime.

Diocese pays $1.2 million to former altar boy to settle sex abuse lawsuit, BND, October 23, 2009

Illinois Supreme Court rules on sex-abuse statute of limitations, CatholicNewWorld, October 11, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Catholic Diocese of Belleville

Abuse in the Catholic Church, The Boston Globe

Continue reading "Clergy Sex Abuse: Catholic Diocese of Belleville Pays $1.2 Million to Settle Illinois Injury Lawsuit Against Parish Priest" »

A former Chicago Hope Academy student is suing the school for personal injury. The boy, an unnamed minor and an athlete, started attending the school, located on the West Side, in 2005.

Per his Chicago child sex abuse lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, the boy is accusing Kathryn Vail-Wesley, his former math teacher, of showering him with affection and attention in private and in public beginning in 2008.

The boy was 16 at the time and his Chicago injuries to minor complaint contends that his math teacher would hug him and touch him regularly and invite him to her residence. He claims she would send him secret letters and messages and engage in private phone calls with him to discuss her sexual and personal histories. He says she propositioned, noting that she wanted to bring his “chocolate skin” and her “vanilla skin” together.

From August – October 2008, the boy says that he was sexually involved with Vail-Wesley and that the incidents occurred in school, the chapel, and in other locations on the school’s campus.

Their sexual relationship came to light after Vail-Wesley’s husband, who also teaches at the school, found the plaintiff and his wife engaged in sexual misconduct in a school classroom. Mr. Wesley assaulted the boy and the school blamed the teenager for disrupting Vail-Wesley’s career and marriage. The plaintiff says the school told him to either withdraw is enrollment or they would expel him.

Vail-Wesley has been charged with sexual assault involving a minor because of her alleged involvement with the plaintiff.

The Chicago injury lawsuit says the plaintiff is the victim of the purposeful infliction of emotional trauma, wanton misconduct, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty by the school. The complaint contends that the other school staffers should have noticed thatA former Chicago Hope Academy student is suing the school for personal injury. The boy, an unnamed minor and an athlete, started attending the school, located on the West Side, in 2005.

Per his Chicago child sex abuse lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, the boy is accusing Kathryn Vail-Wesley, his former math teacher, of showering him with affection and attention in private and in public beginning in 2008.

The boy was 16 at the time and his Chicago injuries to minor complaint contends that his math teacher would hug him and touch him regularly and invite him to her residence. He claims she would send him secret letters and messages and engage in private phone calls with him to discuss her sexual and personal histories. He says she propositioned, noting that she wanted to bring his “chocolate skin” and her “vanilla skin” together.

From August – October 2008, the boy says that he was sexually involved with Vail-Wesley and that the incidents occurred in school, the chapel, and in other locations on the school’s campus.

Their sexual relationship came to light after Vail-Wesley’s husband, who also teaches at the school, found the plaintiff and his wife engaged in sexual misconduct in a school classroom. Mr. Wesley assaulted the boy and the school blamed the teenager for disrupting Vail-Wesley’s career and marriage. The plaintiff says the school told him to either withdraw is enrollment or they would expel him.

The Chicago injury lawsuit says the plaintiff is the victim of the purposeful infliction of emotional trauma, wanton misconduct, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty by the school. The complaint contends that the other school staffers should have noticed that Vail-Wesley was sexually abusing the boy. The lawsuit accuses the school of creating a culture that allows certain students and teachers to socialize.

Suit demands damages for alleged abuse, Chicago Journal, August 26, 2009

Former student sues Chicago Hope Academy after sexual abuse, WBBM, August 21, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Chicago Hope Academy

Student Allegedly Molested, Then Expelled, NBC Chicago, January 15, 2009

The adopted son of retired Cook County Judge Lambros Kutrubis is suing him for personal injury. John Kutrubis, 19, claims his father physically, sexually and psychologically abused him. He is seeking monetary damages of over $50,0000 against the former judge, 66, who denies the allegations.

In his Cook County personal injury complaint, John claims his father mentally and physically abused him for eight years and sexually abused him for three years. He says the abuse incidents began after his mother was kicked out of their residence and she was not allowed to contact him.

John claims his father would beat him after getting drunk, removed the doors to his bedroom and bathroom so he could watch him, and fondled him while he took drug tests after he tested positive for marijuana in 2004. John says that when he threatened to tell police about the sexual abuse, his father threw him out of the car and drove the vehicle into him, causing injury to his knee.

John claims that while taking a drug test in 2007, he fought back and his father bit him. The elder Kutrubis was convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery over the altercation and an order of protection was issued preventing him from having contact with John. John also is accusing his father of abusing his mother.

The elder Kutrubis says he thinks that the Chicago personal injury lawsuit is connected to his ongoing divorce case with his ex-wife. The former judge has an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services report that says that John’s sexual abuse claims are “unfounded.” The DCFS says that Lambros Kutrubis never allowed himself to be interviewed.

Chicago Personal Injury
If you have been the victim of an assault crime of any kind, you may be able to file a Chicago personal injury lawsuit against the responsible party. Assault and abuse can be committed by strangers as well as people the victim may know.

Son's suit accuses retired judge of years of abuse, Chicago-Sun TImes, July 25, 2009

Ex-judge taken to court for eight years of abuse, Chicago Now, June 30, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

Continue reading "Son of Retired Cook County Judge Sues Him for Chicago Personal Injury " »

Two women who say they were the victims of clergy sex abuse in the 1960’s are suing the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. The priest named in the federal lawsuit as their perpetrator is Anthony Vader, who church officials removed from public ministry in 2003 because of his misconduct.

The two plaintiffs are African-American. In their clergy sex abuse lawsuit, they accuse the Chicago archdiocese of racial bias in terms of how they treat sex abuse victims that are black. They claim that the archdiocese places a higher burden of proof that sex abuse occurred on African-American victims. The spokesperson for the archdiocese claims that this allegation is false.

The child sex abuse victims are both 58-year-old women. They studied at Laurence Catholic School in Chicago. The school is no longer open. Vader served as parish pastor at the school from 1964 to 1968.

One of the women says that Vader molested her over a five-year period—from the time she was 9 to 14. She says that she experienced post-traumatic stress, nervous breakdowns, anxiety, and other mental and emotional issues because of the abuse he inflicted on her. The other woman says that Vader abused her before she turned 13 and when she was 17. The women’s attorney is calling for a settlement and noted that one of the women is dying from cancer.

Clergy Sex Abuse
The emotional and psychological effects of any kind of sexual abuse on a victim can last a lifetime. Ramifications may include chronic depression, sexual issues, substance abuse, trust issues, and broken relationships. Sexual abuse by a priest can add even more intensity to this act of betrayal. Not only is a trusted adult abusing the victim, but the perpetrator is a supposed representative of God.

While the physical injuries from any type of sex abuse may heal with time, the emotional injuries may be harder to identify. However, there are ways to hold your perpetrator accountable for the harm that you continue to suffer.

Priest lawsuit: 2 women sue Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and a reprimanded priest, alleging abuse in 1960s and current racial bias, Chicago Tribune, May 11, 2009

2 women sue Chicago archdiocese, priest, Chicago Breaking News, May 10, 2009

The Effects of Sexual Abuse Never Go Away, The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, February 3, 1997

Related Web Resources:
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago

Abuse in the Catholic Church, Boston Globe

A Chicago firefighter has been charged with sexually molesting three young children over a one-year period at his apartment in Little Village. According to prosecutors, Jose Moreno, 48, hung the girl, 3, and two boys, 6 and 5, from wooden pegs while the assault incidents happened. He has been charged with three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child.

The three children lived in the same building with Moreno, and they reportedly had to witness each other being molested. Moreno, who was the building landlord, was in charge of watching the kids at least three days a week for up to four hours each time.

According to court documents, the child victims identified the Chicago fireman as their molester. The alleged abuse incidents appeared to have occurred on numerous occasions. If convicted, Moreno could spend the rest of his life in prison. He would also face Fire Department charges. Moreno has been placed on administrative leave from the department without pay.

Sexual Abuse Lawsuits
If your son or daughter has been sexually molested, you may have grounds to file an Illinois civil lawsuit for personal injury against the person responsible for the assault. Sex abuse lawsuits are separate from criminal charges filed against the abuser and provide a way for the victim and his or her family to receive compensation for personal injuries, including mental and emotional trauma.

Just last month, Tiffany Daddino, a former juvenile counselor at the Lake County Probation Department was sued by a 19-year-old man who says she sexually abused him when he was 15 and under her supervision. The Illinois sex abuse lawsuit is seeking over 50,000 in damages from Daddino, the probation department, the state of Illinois, and the Administrative Office of the 19th Judicial Circuit Court. Daddino was convicted in 2006 for sexually abusing the plaintiff, who says she had sexual relations with him in her car a number of times.

Firefighter charged with molesting 3 children, Chicago Sun-Times, December 31, 2008

Victim of sex abuse sues former juvenile counselor, Highland Park News, December 23, 2008

Related Web Resources:

National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children

The Department of Children and Family Services

The Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to settle two separate lawsuits accusing Catholic priests of child sex abuse. Over the last 30 years, the archdiocese has paid over $65 million to settle approximately 250 such claims filed.

The first settlement of $1.2 million is for an Illinois child sex abuse lawsuit filed by the family of a boy who says he was sexually abused by former priest Daniel McCormack. The boy, now 16, will receive $1.1 million. His mother is to receive $100,000.

McCormack is in a Jacksonville prison where he is serving a 5-year sentence after pleading guilty to molesting 5 boys when he was the pastor at Our Lady of the Westside School. The family’s sex abuse lawsuit accuses McCormack of molesting the boy in 2004, as well as during a White Sox game in 2005. The Cook County Circuit Court approved the clergy sex abuse settlement on Tuesday.

In September, the Chicago archdiocese agreed to pay the boy’s younger brother, also a McCormack abuse victim, $2.5 million. The archdiocese has so far paid almost $10 million to settle the abuse claims filed by McCormack’s victims. One more lawsuit, filed by the family of a boy who says he was abused from the 4th – 7th grades, is still pending.

In another case, the Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay nearly $1.4 million to a man who says Catholic Rev. Chester Przybylo sexually abused him when he was a child. The man says the abuse began when he was just 13 in 1987 and continued through 1992. The plaintiff is now 30 and married.

Przybylo was never criminally charged, but documents indicate that the archdiocese knew about the allegations against him. The priest denies the abuse allegations and has filed a slander lawsuit against the alleged victim, the victim’s lawyers, and two groups that are involved in clergy abuse cases.

Chicago Archdiocese to pay $1.4M in sex-abuse case, AP, December 18, 2008

Abuse victim gets $1.2 mil., Chicago Sun-Times, December 18, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Archdiocese of Chicago

Another person is accusing Reverend John Powell, a Jesuit priest who taught at Loyola University Chicago, of child sexual abuse. The woman, who filed her Illinois personal injury lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court, is seeking at least $50,000 in damages.

The woman says Powell, now 83, molested her in 1967 during private counseling sessions when she was a 17-year-old teen attending a spiritual retreat. In her lawsuit, where she is identified as “Jane Doe 125,” the plaintiff contends that Powell made her sit on him, kiss him, and at least once had her take off part of her clothing so he could touch her.

Also named as a defendant in her child sex abuse lawsuit is Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus. The plaintiff says the Jesuit order was aware that Powell was sexually abusing minors and covered up his misconduct.

This is the third civil lawsuit filed since 2003 that seeks damages from Powell for alleged sexual abuse. Other alleged victims have accused Powell of using his roles as a professor and counseler to sexually abuse young girls. As a professor at Loyola University, he conducted numerous spiritual retreats where he had access to minors.

In a 2006 sex abuse lawsuit, a former Loyola University student sued the Chicago order of Jesuits because Powell allegedly sexually abused her during private counseling sessions when she was a college student. Plaintiff Diane Ruhl says school administrators and Jesuit leaders were notified about the abuse incidents but did nothing to stop Powell. In 2003, four females sued Powell for sexual abuse. He settled their civil lawsuit out of court in 2005.

Illinois Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit
While Illinois generally requires that victims of child sexual abuse file their civil lawsuits by their 28th birthday, a victim who is older can to file an Illinois sexual abuse lawsuit if no more than five years have passed since he or she “discovered” that the sexual abuse occurred. With this latest case, the woman claims that it was only recently that she realized Powell sexually abused her.

Delayed Discovery
It may take years for some victims of child sexual abuse to remember or realize what happened to them. The victim may have been too young to understand what happened or did not know how to properly convey that he or she was being abused. The victim may also have suppressed the memories out of fear or trauma. It can take years for the memories to resurface.

Former Loyola professor charged in sex abuse case, Chi Town Daily News, December 10, 2008

Former Loyola Jesuit was professor, author and counselor, Loyola Phoenix, December 4, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus

A 47-year-old Champaign man who says a Belleville priest sexually abused him when he was a 13-year-old altar boy at St. Teresa’s Parish has been awarded $5 million by an Illinois jury. James Wisniewski says that Rev. Raymond Kownacki sexually abused him multiple times over five years beginning in 1973 and the Belleville Diocese covered up the abuse incidents.

Wisniewski, who filed the sex abuse lawsuit in 2002, will likely undergo mental counseling for the duration of his life to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder. On August 27, 2008, the jury awarded him $2.4 million in compensatory damages and $2.6 million in punitive damages.

Jury members found that the diocese knew as early as 1973 that Kownacki was a child sex offender and rapist but continued to transfer him to different parishes without letting members know about the potential threat he posed to children. One transfer sent Kownacki to St. Henry’s Parish, where he lived next to an elementary school and high school.

According to Belleville Bishop Wilton Gregory’s testimony, there were reports compiled in 1973 and 1982 that stated that the former priest had raped and impregnated a teenager (helping her to abort the fetus) and molested a number of boys, including twin brothers, at the Salem parish. A former Belleville vicar general, James Margasan, said he knew about a number of sex abuse allegations against Kownacki but did not investigate the matter or notify parishioners.

According to the Illinois Child Sexual Abuse statute of limitations, a victim can file a sex abuse lawsuit:

• Within 10 years of turning 18.
• Within 5 years of the abuse victim finding out that the abuse was the cause of personal injury.

Injuries from sex abuse can take a lifetime to recover from and you may be entitled to personal injury compensation for the harm you have suffered.

Jury awards $5 million to former altar boy in Belleville priest abuse case, BND.com, August 28, 2008

Man: Jury award in priest-abuse case `good start,' AP, August 29, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Illinois Child Sex Abuse Statute, Illinois General Assembly

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has reached a $12.7 Million settlement agreement with 16 victims of clergy sex abuse. Cardinal Francis George says he hopes the settlement would provide closure to the victims. During a news conference on Tuesday, he apologized to the victims and their families for their injuries and suffering.

The victims were abused by 11 former Catholic priests, including Daniel McCormack, Norbert Maday, Joseph Bennett, Robert Mayer, Robert Craig, James Hagan, Thomas Kelly, Robert Becker, Joseph Owens, James Steel, and Kenneth Ruge. With these latest settlements, the archdiocese will have settled 250 abuse claims over the past three decades.

Child Sex Abuse
Victims of child sex abuse are entitled to personal injury compensation from their perpetrators. Many times, children are too scared or ashamed to tell anyone that they’ve been the victims of sexual abuse—they may even repress the memories for years.

Since the early 1990’s, there have been many clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic Church and many of its priests and other clergy members by the families of victims that were sexually abused as children. Some victims were sexually abused many times over a period of years.

In certain cases, there is evidence indicating that the Catholic Church knew that some of its priests were abusing children. Rather than reporting the priest to authorities, he or she would be relocated to another church and more abuse incidents would occur.

Sexual abuse can lead to serious personal injuries, including physical injuries and emotional injuries. A person that has been sexually abused may experience post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, turn to alcohol or drugs, commit suicide, or exhibit other symptoms as a result of the trauma of abuse.

Chicago archdiocese settles priest sex-abuse cases for $12.7 million, ChicagoTribune.com, August 12, 2008

Archdiocese announces settlement with sex abuse victims, Lake County News-Sun, August 12, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Archdiocese of Chicago

Abuse in the Catholic Church