A Lake Forest-based medical waste disposal company and the 12 states it allegedly overcharged for service have reached a $26.75 million settlement.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office announced the settlement with Stericycle, Inc.
Madigan’s office said the lawsuit was brought by a whistleblower, who was a former employee of the company.
The company provided medical waste services to schools, colleges, health departments, nursing homes and municipalities, according to Madigan’s office. Stericycle implemented an automatic price increase for fuel and energy costs, but according to Madigan’s office, the increase in price did not reflect actual fuel and energy costs.
Illinois will receive approximately $3 million from the settlement, to be distributed to the roughly 355 entities in the state that were overcharged.
“We anticipate local units of government will recover more than 95 percent of their losses,” Annie Thompson, spokesperson for the Illinois Attorney General’s office, told the Cook County Record. “However, the exact amount recovered may vary by entity.”
Maine Township High School District 207 in Park Ridge is one of the entities that was a victim of Stericycle’s fraudulent price increase. The increase cost the school more than $50,000. They will receive $49,916 as a result of the settlement, according to documents provided by Madigan’s office.
Thompson said the attorney general’s office will disperse more than $1.67 million to similarly situated parties.
Madigan’s office is collecting tax identification numbers and W-9 forms to “ensure that payments are made to the 355 entities as expeditiously as possible,” Thompson said.
Governmental bodies in other states will benefit from the settlement, as well, Madigan's office said, including in California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia and the federal government.