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R.D. Masonry5/19/2005
medical exam. King rejected the claimant's argument that, because his award was final, section 12 did not require him to submit to a medical exam. King also rejected his claim that an employer is not entitled to a medical exam unless the employer first files a petition under section 8(f) of the Act to modify compensation, noting that it would not engraft any restrictions onto section 12 and that a medical exam may be required for an employer to determine whether grounds exist to modify claimant's benefits pursuant to section 8(f) (820 ILCS 305/8(f) (West 1998)). King, 189 Ill. 2d at 175, citing Jackson Coal Co., 295 Ill. at 20-21. In responding to concerns that section 12 could be improperly used by employers, this court assuaged those concerns as follows:
"Of course section 12 should not be used for the improper purpose of harassing claimants or in a wrongful attempt to cut off a claimant's compensation . These mere possibilities, though, do not persuade us to disregard the plain meaning of the . * A medical exam will often be the best method of ascertaining whether the claimant currently is able to work and able to earn within the meaning of section 8(f). We note, moreover, that claimant's fear that employers will improperly utilize section 12 in an attempt to cut off liability fails to acknowledge the manner in which section 12 operates. Section 12 cannot be utilized to suspend a claimant's compensation unless the claimant refuses to comply with a proper request for a medical exam. [Citation.] A claimant, therefore, can avoid a suspension of compensation under section 12 through compliance." King, 189 Ill. App. 3d 176.
Likewise, claimant in the instant case could have avoided any issue as to suspension of benefits after May 27, 1999, by simply complying with the request for examination.
Navistar International Transportation Corp. v. Industrial Comm'n, 331 Ill. App. 3d 405 (2002), cited by claimant, is factually distinguishable, but in general terms, it actually supports the appellate court's decision. There, the employer suspended the claimant's permanent total disability benefits based on a right it extrapolated from King to receive current medical information. Navistar held that nothing in the Act gives the employer the right to suspend payments based on current medical information. Navistar, 331 Ill. App. 3d at 412. Instead, it found the import of King to be clear: If an employer believes that a claimant's medical condition has changed such that he is able to return to work, it can request the claimant to submit to a medical exam under section 12; if the claimant refuses to submit, the employer may then suspend the claimant's benefits. Navistar, 331 Ill. App. 3d at 412. Thus, Navistar recognized an employer's right to suspend benefits if a claimant refuses to submit to an exam.
Navistar also addressed the employer's alternative argument that it was entitled to suspend the claimant's benefits because the claimant failed to attend an exam scheduled two months after the employer had terminated payments. The court rejected this argument on the grounds that the employer admitted that it did not tender the travel expenses required by section 12, and it had already suspended payments at the time it requested the exam. Navistar, 331 Ill. App. 3d at 413. Finally, the court upheld the Commission's finding that the employer's conduct was sanctionable because the employer suspended payments in contravention of a final decision. Navistar, 331 Ill. App. 3d at 413.
Navistar is distinguishable from the present case as Masonry suspended payments based on the failure to attend a medical exam, not the failure to provide medical information. Although claimant argues fo
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