Blog

Describes recent changes and additions to Illinois employment laws that mean employers should review and update their employee handbooks and policies.

Discusses terms of Illinois’ Paid Leave for All Workers Act, including who’s covered, how to comply, and consequences for non-compliance.

Reviews statutory changes to four Illinois employment laws that became effective in 2022

Summarizes 11/4/21 Second Circuit decision upholding New York’s vaccine mandate for certain employees of healthcare facilities

Summarizes 10/25/21 Eastern District of Washington decision to deny request for temporary restraining order against state COVID-19 vaccine mandates

Analyzes legal issues an employer should consider before implementing a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination program for its employees

Analysis of immunity under Illinois’ EMS Act after Hernandez v. Lifeline Ambulance, LLC: Preparatory conduct and travel v. transport

A wide variety of employment-related statutory changes went into effect in Illinois this year. These include important amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA), such as P.A. 101-0430, which, effective July 1, 2020, expanded the definition of an employer to cover any person employing at least one (not fifteen) employee(s). Additionally, P.A. 101-0221—which enacted the Workplace Transparency Act, the Sexual Harassment Victim Representation Act, and the Hotel and Casino Employee Safety Act and which amended the IHRA, the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act ...

Cases decided by federal courts in Illinois and the Seventh Circuit have held that groundwater does not implicate the CWA, even if there exists a hydrological connection between groundwater and navigable waters.  In Vill. of Oconomowoc Lake v. Dayton Hudson Corp., 24 F.3d 962, 965 (7^th Cir. 1994), the Seventh Circuit opined that “we are confident that the statute Congress enacted excludes some waters, and groundwaters are a logical candidate.”  In a more recent case involving seeps from unlined coal ash pits at a retired coal-fired power plant, which allegedly migrated through ...

Are you considering retaining an expert, in a medical malpractice case, who has a history of medical malpractice suits being filed against him or her? Have you just deposed an expert in a medical malpractice case and learned that they have been previously sued for medical malpractice? In either situation, you will likely have to determine whether the expert’s prior lawsuits will be admissible at trial. A recent Illinois appellate court ruling, Swift v. Schleicher, suggests that circuit courts should bar any evidence of medical malpractice lawsuits filed against the expert.

The ...

The Seventh Circuit recently became the first circuit to hold that “discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). Hively v. Ivy Tech Cmty. Coll. of Ind., 853 F.3d 339, 341 (7th Cir. 2017). “For many years, the courts of appeals of this country understood the prohibition against sex discrimination to exclude discrimination on the basis of a person’s sexual orientation.” Id. at 340. On April 4, 2017, the Seventh Circuit issued its groundbreaking decision,[1] departing from ...

Does your company monitor its network or devices for network security or data confidentiality? Does your company have any policies or practices that seek access to any employees’ personal online accounts? If so, a recent amendment to Illinois’ Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (“Act”) may require your company to adopt or revise its policies or practices to comply with the law.

Expands the scope of protected content. The amendment has shifted the focus from social networking accounts or profiles to personal online accounts (POAs). A POA is “an online account, that is ...