Johnson v. Federal Reserve Bank

Richard Johnson sued his employer, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (the Bank), alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress. The trial court granted the Bank’s motion to dismiss the complaint as insufficient, and on the grounds that the claim was barred by the Workers’ Compensation Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 48, par. 138.1 et seq.). For the reasons below, we reverse.

Plaintiff alleges that in May 1984, Johnson, a 14-year employee of the Bank, was instructed by his superiors to begin using unauthorized procedures to access the Bank’s computer files. The procedures compromised…