Crane operator sues Sherman Hospital for work injury

A crane operator from Joliet is suing Sherman Hospital in Elgin for a spill he said occurred at the construction site of the new hospital on Dec. 10, 2008.

David Riddle filed the lawsuit in Kane County last month, alleging that Sherman Health Systems and 12 other construction companies working at 1425 N. Randall Road were negligent, didn't clean up snow and ice at the work site, and should be held liable.

He seeks damages in excess of $50,000.

Riddle's attorney, Frank Cservenyak, said his client is a union crane operator who injured his right shoulder in the fall and couldn't work for eight months. He declined to elaborate on Riddle's injuries or whether he needs any special care.

“(Riddle) sustained a major injury to his shoulder, which required surgery,” Cservenyak said.

The seriousness of the fall and full extent of the injury will likely not be known unless the case makes it to trial.

According to records, the Elgin Fire Department was not called to the construction site that day; Cservenyak says his client went to a hospital himself after the fall.

Also, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration was not called in to investigate the fall and no citations or fines issued, according to its website and officials at OSHA's Aurora branch office.

Sherman officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The case will have an initial hearing Feb. 17.

Better luck next time

An appellate court recently denied an Aurora gang member's request to have a felony conviction wiped from his record.

Cartesus N. McGregor, 32, pleaded guilty to an Aug. 6, 1995 charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and completed two years of probation, which included getting a job. But a Kane County judge denied McGregor's appeal to have the felony conviction expunged from his record.

McGregor appealed, saying the trial court's decision was arbitrary and exceeded its discretion.

The Second District Appellate Court shot down McGregor's appeal, noting that McGregor hid a .32-caliber gun in his vehicle's glove compartment after a juvenile gang member robbed a drug dealer at gunpoint and McGregor and other gang members fled in his vehicle. McGregor also was initially charged with armed robbery and obstructing justice, and the appellate panel agreed that there was no way McGregor could say he didn't know about the armed robbery taking place.

“A trial court abuses its discretion when its ruling is so arbitrary, fanciful or unreasonable that no reasonable person would agree with it,” the appellate panel wrote.