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Riverdale Industries8/19/1999
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Honorable Dorothy K. Kinnaird, Judge Presiding.
Plaintiff, Riverdale Industries, Inc. (Riverdale), filed this action for fraud against defendant, Lawrence Malloy, in the circuit court of Cook County seeking to vacate as fraudulent a workers' compensation award granted by the Illinois Industrial Commission (Commission). Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to sections 2-615 and 2-619(a)(4) of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-615; 735 ILCS 5/2-619(a)(4) (West 1992)). After a hearing, the court granted defendant's motion, finding that plaintiff's cause of action was barred by the doctrine of res judicata because plaintiff failed to seek timely administrative review of the Commission's decision.
Lawrence Malloy is an employee of Riverdale. On December 17, 1991, defendant filed an application for an adjustment of claim with the Commission. The claim was based on a work-related injury to defendant's back which occurred on August 17, 1991.
On June 9, 1993, defendant filed a second application for an adjustment of claim with the Commission based on work-related injury to his back, which occurred on May 25, 1993. A hearing was had on defendant's claims on November 27, 1995 and March 6, 1996, before the Commission. During the hearing, plaintiff's counsel attempted to introduce a videotape that allegedly showed defendant participating in vigorous activities, such as, taking down a tent and loading a truck during a camping trip in September 1991. The videotape was shot by a private investigator at the direction of plaintiff. At the time of the hearing, plaintiff attempted to admit the tape into evidence to rebut defendant's claims of injury. Plaintiff was unable to produce the investigator who recorded the footage and, therefore, could not establish an evidentiary foundation for the tape's admission. The arbitrator denied the videotape's admission into evidence and granted an award of worker's compensation in favor of defendant. Plaintiff never sought administrative review of the decision.
Approximately two years later, on March 6, 1998, plaintiff filed the instant action. On appeal, plaintiff asserts that it did not seek review of the Commission's decision because the whereabouts of the private investigator were unknown and, therefore, it did not have a basis for an appeal at that time. Further, plaintiff contends that because the videotape is proof that defendant fraudulently obtained worker's compensation, the Commission's decision can be reexamined pursuant to section 19(f) of the Workers' Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/19(f) (West 1992)). Defendant's response is that plaintiff possessed the videotape, knew of its theory of fraud at the hearing, and therefore, waived the right to pursue this action now.
Under the doctrine of res judicata, a final adjudication on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction absolutely bars a subsequent action involving the same parties and their privies and the same claim, demand or cause of action. Torcasso v. Standard Outdoor Sales, Inc., 157 Ill. 2d 484, 490, 626 N.E.2d 225, 228 (1993). Res judicata prohibits repetitive litigation in an effort to obtain judicial economy and to protect litigants from the burden of retrying an identical cause of action with the same party or privy. Pedigo v. Johnson, 130 Ill. App. 3d 392, 394, 474 N.E.2d 430, 431 (1985). The doctrine of res judicata bars litigation of all issues that were actually decided and all issues that could have been raised and determined because they were properly involved by the subject matter of the earlier action. City of Rolling Meadows v. National Advertising Co., 228 Ill
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