West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. v. TRRS Corp., 161 N.E.3d 902

West Bend filed a declaratory-judgment action seeking a declaration that it had no duty to defend or indemnify TRRS and Commercial Tire for Gary Bernardino’s April 18, 2017 work injury, alleging the employers failed to timely notify the insurer.
Bernardino had a pending workers’ compensation claim before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) set for trial; West Bend then filed an emergency motion in circuit court seeking a stay of the IWCC proceeding.
The McHenry County circuit court entered an ex parte stay of the IWCC action, concluding the court had “primary jurisdiction” to resolve the coverage/late-notice issue.
Bernardino moved to vacate the stay and took an interlocutory appeal; the Second District reversed the circuit court, holding the primary jurisdiction doctrine authorizes a court to stay its own proceedings but not to stay an administrative proceeding like an IWCC matter.
The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court: it held a circuit court may not invoke the primary jurisdiction doctrine to stay an administrative proceeding, overruled Hastings Mutual to that extent, reversed the circuit court’s stay order, and remanded for further proceedings so the trial court may consider any alternative bases for a stay.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a circuit court may invoke the primary jurisdiction doctrine to stay a pending IWCC administrative proceeding	West Bend: primary jurisdiction supports the court resolving the coverage/late-notice issue and staying the IWCC matter pending resolution	Bernardino: IWCC should decide factual notice issues; the court should not stay the administrative proceeding	Court held: No — primary jurisdiction allows a court to stay its own judicial proceedings in favor of agency resolution, but does not authorize staying an administrative proceeding; circuit court erred; Hastings Mutual overruled to that extent
Whether other legal bases (e.g., inherent equitable power under the Constitution) justify the stay	West Bend: trial court has inherent equitable power (Ardt) and constitutional authority to issue stays; primary jurisdiction alone is not the only basis	Bernardino: stay must be supported by the record and applicable standards; trial court relied solely on primary jurisdiction	Held: Supreme Court declined to decide alternative grounds because the trial court based its stay on primary jurisdiction only; remanded so the circuit court can consider alternative grounds and allow briefing/responses

Employers Mutual Cos. v. Skilling, 163 Ill.2d 284 (Ill. 1994) (describes primary jurisdiction doctrine and when courts should stay judicial proceedings for agency referral)
Reiter v. Cooper, 507 U.S. 258 (U.S. 1993) (explains primary jurisdiction requires courts to stay proceedings to permit agency rulings when an issue falls within agency expertise)
United States v. Western Pacific R.R. Co., 352 U.S. 59 (U.S. 1956) (foundational U.S. Supreme Court precedent on judicial referral to agencies)
Hastings Mutual Ins. Co. v. Ultimate Backyard, LLC, 2012 IL App (1st) 101751 (Ill. App. Ct. 2012) (First District had permitted using primary jurisdiction to direct a trial court to stay an IWCC proceeding; overruled to the extent it allowed stay of administrative proceedings)
Crossroads Ford Truck Sales, Inc. v. Sterling Truck Corp., 2011 IL 111611 (Ill. 2011) (addresses concurrent jurisdiction and the role of primary jurisdiction doctrine in timing of adjudication)