Prate Roofing and Installations, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Corp.
2022 IL App (1st) 191842-B (Ill. App., 2022)Words & Phrases
Worker's CompensationTrial Judge
Caroline Kate MorelandAppellate Judge
JohnsonHolding
DOI finding that employees were subject to workers’ compensation coverage was against the manifest weight of the evidence.Fact Summary
Plaintiff Prate Roofing and Installations, LLC (Prate), appeals an order from the circuit court of Cook County, which affirmed the final decision of the Director of Insurance in favor of defendant, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (Liberty Mutual), and against plaintiff, Prate, regarding the parties’ workers’ compensation insurance dispute. The parties disputed whether Prate owed Liberty Mutual additional workers’ compensation insurance premiums because certain subcontractors hired by Prate did not have individual coverage. Prate challenged that determination before the Department of Insurance (DOI), Director of the DOI Jennifer Hammer entered an order agreeing with Liberty Mutual and finding that Prate owed additional workers’ compensation premiums in the amount of $127,305.
Prate subsequently filed suit in the circuit court of Cook County, seeking administrative review of the Director’s final decision and an additional claim for declaratory judgment as to the amount of the premium owed to Liberty Mutual. The circuit court affirmed the Director’s decision and dismissed the claim for declaratory judgment.
Prate has timely appealed, contending that (1) the DOI lacked authority to issue its final order, which is therefore void pursuant to this court’s holding in CAT Express, Inc. v. Muriel, 2019 IL App (1st) 181851; (2) the circuit court erred in dismissing its request for declaratory relief on an issue upon which the DOI had expressly declined and lacked authority to rule; and (3) the DOI erred in finding that ARW Roofing LLC (ARW LLC) had its own employees who worked on Prate jobs to justify Liberty Mutual charging an additional premium of $127,305. In our initial disposition of this case, we vacated the DOI’s final order, finding that it lacked authority to resolve the parties’ dispute, and further vacated the judgment of the circuit court affirming the DOI’s order, as such order was void. Prate Roofing & Installations, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Corp., 2021 IL App (1st) 191842-U (Prate I).
Liberty Mutual filed a petition for leave to appeal to the supreme court, which was granted. The supreme court reversed this court’s previous ruling, finding that the DOI did in fact have the statutory authority to resolve the dispute under section 462 of the Illinois Insurance Code (Code) (215 ILCS 5/462 (West 2018)). Prate Roofing & Installations, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Corp., 2022 IL 127140, ¶ 41. The court then remanded the case to this court to address the parties’ remaining arguments. Id. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the finding of the DOI.