Country Mutual Insurance v. D & M Tile, Inc.

The plaintiff, Country Mutual Insurance Co. (Country Mutual), filed the instant action for a declaratory judgment, seeking a ruling that it had no obligation under an insurance policy to defend and indemnify defendant D and M Tile for a worker’s compensation claim filed by defendant Dan Walenga (collectively, the defendants). Country Mutual filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because Walenga had elected to opt out of coverage under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act) (820 ILCS 305/1 et seq. (West 2006)). The trial…