Old Ben Coal Co. v. Industrial Commission

The employer, Old Ben Coal Company, appeals from the judgment of the circuit court confirming the decision of the Illinois Industrial Commission (hereafter referred to as the Commission). The Commission affirmed the decision of the arbitrator, which found the claimant, Clifford Frye, permanently and totally disabled pursuant to the terms of the Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 48, par. 172.36 et seq.) (hereafter referred to as the Act). The Commission found a causal relationship existing “between the exposure to the hazards of an occupational disease, coal dust,…