Workers' Compensation Attorneys for Illinois and Indiana Industrial Workers

Industries and Exposures We Handle

Steel and Metal Production

Steel operations throughout the Calumet Region, including US Steel Gary Works, Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor, and the ArcelorMittal-era facilities in East Chicago, exposed workers to asbestos pipe insulation, coke oven emissions, silica dust, and heavy metal fumes over decades of employment. Workers who developed mesothelioma, pleural disease, lung cancer, or other asbestos-related illness have claims under Indiana workers' comp and through the asbestos trust fund system established by product manufacturers.

Petroleum Refining and Chemical Plants

Workers at the BP Whiting Refinery and associated petrochemical operations across the Calumet Region faced prolonged exposure to asbestos insulation, benzene, and other carcinogens. Benzene exposure is associated with leukemia, multiple myeloma, and other blood cancers. Both Illinois and Indiana recognize occupational cancer as a compensable condition under their workers' compensation acts, and the product manufacturers who supplied benzene-containing solvents and asbestos-containing components face separate civil liability independent of the workers' comp process.

Construction Trades and Industrial Contractors

Construction workers who performed renovations, maintenance, or demolition at industrial sites throughout Chicagoland and NW Indiana frequently disturbed asbestos-containing pipe insulation, floor tile, boiler insulation, and fireproofing materials. These workers are covered under their state workers' compensation acts and typically have additional claims against product manufacturers under the same toxic tort framework. Illinois and Indiana construction workers have appeared in asbestos product liability litigation for decades, and the exposure pathways are well established.

How to File an Occupational Disease Claim in Illinois or Indiana

Occupational disease claims differ from standard workers' comp injury claims in one critical respect: the causal link between workplace exposure and diagnosis must be established through medical evidence. Employers and their insurers routinely dispute whether the disease arose from workplace exposure rather than other factors such as smoking history or prior medical conditions.

Steps that apply in both Illinois and Indiana:

1. Report the diagnosis and its potential connection to your employer in writing as soon as the connection is identified. Delay in reporting can create disputes over whether the condition is work-related.
2. Seek evaluation from a physician who can document the occupational exposure history and its relationship to the diagnosis. This documentation anchors both the workers' comp claim and any parallel tort claim.
3. Do not sign any release, settlement, or statement with your employer's insurer before consulting an attorney. Occupational disease workers' comp settlements can structurally foreclose the parallel tort claim if not handled correctly.
4. Contact our office for a free case review. We evaluate the workers' comp claim and any potential product liability claims at the same time.

A Note for Railroad Workers: Your Rights Are Under FELA, Not Workers' Comp

Railroad workers employed by operating railroads, including Norfolk Southern, CSX, Canadian National, BNSF, Union Pacific, the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad, and other carriers, are not covered by state workers' compensation. Their exclusive remedy for workplace injuries and occupational illness is the Federal Employers' Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. SS 51-60.

FELA claims require proof of railroad negligence and operate entirely outside the workers' compensation system. Workers who split their careers between railroad employment and industrial employment outside of railroads may hold both FELA rights for their railroad years and workers' comp or tort rights for their industrial years. Those claims can be pursued in parallel. See our FELA practice for more on railroad worker rights.

Why McMahon Handles Workers' Compensation Cases Differently

Gregory McMahon spent over two decades defending the corporations now on the other side of these claims. He knows which product manufacturers established asbestos bankruptcy trusts, what documentation those trusts require to process a claim, and what exposure patterns courts have accepted as causally linked to specific occupational cancers in the Chicagoland and NW Indiana industrial corridor.

For most occupational disease victims, the workers' compensation claim represents only a portion of the total recovery available. The manufacturers who supplied the toxic materials, the distributors who moved those materials through the supply chain, and the employers who used them while knowing the risks often represent far larger claims. Pursuing them requires toxic tort experience that most workers' compensation practitioners do not have and do not develop.

Gregory handles both claims. That means workers retain one attorney across the full scope of what they are owed, rather than settling for the smaller statutory claim while leaving the larger tort recovery unclaimed.

Start Your Free Case Review

If you or a family member developed mesothelioma, lung cancer, leukemia, or another illness connected to industrial work in Illinois or Indiana, contact our office for a free, no-obligation consultation. We work on a contingency fee basis: no fees unless we secure a recovery on your behalf.

Call (464) 250-9272 or contact us online. Office and virtual consultations are available.