Declarations

Good Dogs, Bad Employer

“We gave the employer every opportunity to comply with the law.”

—Jan Eisbart, manager of the Insurance Compliance Division of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. The IWCC and the City of Evanston shut down All Good Dogs Pet Care, also known as The Hungry Pup, an Evanston storefront at 941 Chicago Avenue, with dog-walkers in six suburbs for failure to secure workers’ compensation insurance. Four individuals filed workers’ comp claims against the company; two were found to be eligible for compensation, but the employer has not paid any benefits. “All they had to do was get insurance and they have not complied. They did not respond to our letters or even appear at the hearing. They forced our hand,” Eisbart said. All Illinois employers are required to purchase workers’ comp insurance. Employers may be fined up to $500 for each day without insurance, with a minimum fine of $10,000. Corporate officers may be held personally liable and/or sent to prison.

A Common Goal

“It is a unique opportunity when two leaders in their respective fields can come together in a partnership such as the one we are announcing today.”

—Greg Case, president and chief executive officer of Chicago-based insurer Aon Corp., commenting on the company’s sponsorship of the Manchester United soccer franchise. The Aon brand will be featured on the Manchester United shirt for four years starting with the 2010/11 world football (soccer) season. Manchester United is one of the biggest football clubs in the world and has an estimated 333 million fans across the globe. Its home at Old Trafford in the UK celebrates its centenary in 2010.

Perhaps an Imminent Hazard

“From everything I’ve been able to see, I’m not sure there’s an imminent hazard but it’s something we’re investigating.”

—Michael Firestone, head of children’s health protection at the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has been conducting research into whether sports fields and playgrounds made from ground-up tires could harm children’s health after some agency scientists raised concerns. The EPA is concluding a limited study of air and surface samples at four fake-surface fields and playgrounds that use recycled tires. Synthetic sports surfaces are easy on the bones and great for recycling, increasingly popular for their resiliency and for their weatherproof, low-maintenance qualities. But communities from New Jersey to Oregon have raised concerns about children touching, swallowing or inhaling lead, metals and chemicals like benzene, zinc and breathable particles from synthetic fields and play yards. Results from the agency’s limited study, which began last year, are expected this summer.