By: Mary T. Yong The Illinois First District Appellate Court recently issued a ruling in National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford and Continental Insurance Company v. Visual Pak Company, Inc. that clarified coverage issues in favor of insurers denying coverage related to claims brought pursuant to the Illinois Biometric Privacy […] The post Illinois First District Appellate Court At Odds with the Seventh Circuit on BIPA Coverage appeared first on Downey & Lenkov LLC ..read more

By: Jessica Jackler Recently, several new paid leave laws were enacted in Illinois including the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLFWA), the new Cook County Leave Ordinance, and the new Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance. The PLFWA is entirely new and became effective […] The post New Paid Leave Laws Take Effect in Illinois appeared first on Downey & Lenkov LLC ..read more

By: Kristy K. Singler In Miramontes v. Peraton, Inc., No. 3:21-CV-3019-B, 2023 WL 3855603 at *6 (N.D. Tex. June 6, 2023), a federal district court for the N.D. Texas, Dallas Division, addressed if an employer can be deemed liable for an employee’s failure to preserve business-related texts received on the […] The post Employers May Face Sanctions for Employees’ Failure to Preserve Texts on Personal Phones appeared first on Downey & Lenkov LLC ..read more

By Jessica Jackler On August 2, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) changed the law again governing employee handbooks. The NLRB’s decision in Stericycle, Inc. overruled the employer-friendly precedent in place for the past six years under Boeing Co. (2017), which was later refined in LA Specialty Produce Co. […] The post NLRB Significantly Alters Handbook Rules appeared first on Downey & Lenkov LLC ..read more

By: Jessica Jackler  In 2018, the EEOC filed suit against Charter Communications, LLC in a Wisconsin federal court alleging disability discrimination for failing to accommodate an employee. The employee worked at a call center for the defendant-employer. Cataracts in both eyes made his vision blurry and made seeing in the […] The post Summary Judgment Reversed by Seventh Circuit in ADA Accommodation Case appeared first on Downey & Lenkov LLC ..read more

By: Jessica Jackler On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Groff v. DeJoy, No. 22-174 (June 29, 2023) in which it clarified and changed the standard for religious accommodations under Title VII. The new standard provides that “’under hardship’ is shown when a burden is substantial in […] The post SCOTUS Clarifies Standard for Religious Accommodation Requests appeared first on Downey & Lenkov LLC ..read more

By: Jessica Jackler June is Pride Month, a celebration to honor the contributions of LGBTQI+ persons. This month also marks the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which affirmed that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis […] The post EEOC Honors Pride Month appeared first on Downey & Lenkov LLC ..read more

By: Jessica Jackler The United States Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision this summer regarding under which circumstances employers will continue to be legally obligated to accommodate employees based on their religious beliefs. The pending case is Groff v. DeJoy, a lawsuit brought by an evangelical Christian postal […] The post U.S. Supreme Court Weighs Religious Accommodation Standard appeared first on Downey & Lenkov LLC ..read more

By: Jessica Jackler On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would ban employers from imposing noncompetes on their workers. The proposed rule would prohibit employers from entering into noncompete clauses with their workers including independent contractors. It would require employers to […] The post Federal Trade Commission Proposes Ban on All Noncompetes appeared first on Downey & Lenkov LLC ..read more

By: Jessica Jackler On August 19, 2022, the Second District Appellate Court of Illinois in M.U. v. Team Illinois Hockey Club, Inc., et al., 2022 IL App (2d) 210568, held that plaintiff could maintain a cause of action for discrimination against a private organization under the section of the Illinois […] The post Illinois Private Organizations Can Be Held Liable for Discrimination as Places of Public Accommodations appeared first on Downey & Lenkov LLC ..read more