Interlake, Inc. v. Industrial Commission

This appeal is from a judgment of the circuit court of Livingston County, which confirmed a decision by the Industrial Commission. In the decision, the Commission affirmed and adopted an arbitrator’s award of lifetime benefits to Frieda Bridgeforth, the widow of Henry Bridgeforth, who died while returning home from work at a factory of Interlake, Inc., in Pontiac. Interlake appealed from the circuit court’s judgment directly to this court under Rule 302(a)(2) (73 Ill. 2d R. 302(a)(2)).

Henry Bridgeforth died on October 4, 1976, at the age of 63. Frieda and he had been married for 33 years, and…