Chmelik v. Vana

This is an appeal from a judgment of the circuit court of Cook County holding that the Illinois Workmen’s Compensation Act was a bar to a common-law action brought by plaintiff, William Chmelik, to recover for personal injuries allegedly resulting from the negligence of Thomas Vana, the defendant. Constitutional questions raised and passed upon in the trial court give us jurisdiction to entertain the direct appeal.

Undisputed facts reveal that plaintiff and defendant were both employees of the Speedway Manufacturing Company at a plant in northern Illinois, and that both men customarily drove…