Rodriguez v. Industrial Commission

Petitioner, Trinidad Rodriguez, seeks compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 48, par. 138.1 et seq.) for injuries sustained while at work when a co-worker struck him over the head with a two-by-four. The co-worker, Roger Knoll, had no provocation for the assault; his only apparent motive was prejudice against petitioner because he was Mexican.

The arbitrator found that petitioner’s injuries did not arise out of and in the course of the employment and denied compensation. He did not make any specific finding, however, as to what triggered the assault. The…