This week, Governor Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1169 into law, clarifying the legislative intent of the Health Care Right of Conscience Act (HRCRA) to allow employers the right to “take any measure or impose any...more
On Thursday night, October 28, 2021, the Illinois General Assembly passed House Floor Amendment 3 to Senate Bill 1169, which amends the Health Care Right to Conscience Act (HCRCA) to allow employers the right to “take any...more
During an in-person meeting of a public body, it is not uncommon for individuals to have sidebar discussions. Such discussions do not necessarily violate any rules or laws, including the Illinois Open Meetings Act. But what...more
In a rare binding opinion, the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) opined that certain information in the sole possession of a vendor that had contracted with the Illinois Department of Corrections...more
8/18/2020
/ Department of Corrections ,
Exemptions ,
FOIA ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
PACs ,
Proprietary Information ,
Public Access Laws ,
Public Records ,
Request For Information ,
Third-Party ,
Trade Secrets
Last week, the Illinois Appellate Court issued three separate opinions addressing the scope of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The opinions provide additional guidance related to what constitutes a reasonable...more
8/12/2020
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Email ,
Failure to Comply ,
FOIA ,
Mobile Devices ,
Murder ,
Public Access Laws ,
Public Records ,
Request for Production ,
School Districts ,
Search & Seizure ,
Text Messages
The Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) recently issued guidance specific to reopening college campuses. Though the CDC did not weigh in on whether institutions should resume in-person classes in the fall, it set forth key...more
In its fourth binding opinion of 2020, the Illinois Public Access Counselor found that a Chicago Public School’s Local School Council violated Section 2(a) of the Open Meetings Act by improperly discussing the timing and...more
On Friday, June 5, 2020, Governor Pritzker signed into law Public Act 101-0633, which amends the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act to create a rebuttable presumption that a first-responder or essential worker who contracts...more
Last week, the Illinois General Assembly passed House Bill 2455, which amends the Workers Compensation Act to create a rebuttable presumption that a first-responder or essential worker who contracts COVID-19 did so in the...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education issued a Questions and Answers for Postsecondary Institutions Regarding the COVID-19 National Emergency document reminding colleges and universities that responsibilities to...more
The U.S. Department of Education recently issued guidance on the use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) funds under the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act....more
On April 1, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finalized a series of highly anticipated additional amendments to its union election procedures. The final rule, which can be found here targets the following three...more
Earlier this month, the Seventh Circuit joined the consensus across the country, concluding in two separate cases that unions that collected fair share fees prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, 585,...more
11/26/2019
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Defense Strategies ,
Fair Share Contribution ,
First Amendment ,
Good Faith ,
Janus v AFSCME ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Non-Union ,
Payroll Deductions ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Restitution ,
SCOTUS ,
Union Dues ,
Unions
Last month, the Illinois Supreme Court granted a petition for leave to appeal the Illinois Appellate Court’s decision in Dynak v. Board of Education of Wooddale School District 7, 2019 IL App (2d) 180551, which held that a...more
10/24/2019
/ Appeals ,
Employment Litigation ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Holidays ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Leave of Absence ,
Motion for Leave ,
Right to Restrict ,
School Districts ,
Sick Leave ,
Teachers ,
Work Restrictions
The National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) is inviting input “to aid the Board in reconsidering the standards for determining whether profane outbursts and offensive statements of a racial or sexual nature, made in the...more
On August 9, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued the first of its planned series of highly anticipated proposed amendments to its union election procedures. These proposed amendments follow the NLRB’s...more
8/15/2019
/ Blocking Statutes ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Construction Industry ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions
Scabby, the gnarly, diseased, inflatable rat, has long been recognized as a symbol of a labor protest. During the Obama-era, the National Labor Relations Board likened the use of Scabby to peaceful, protected activities such...more
With recent news of a new Goldman Sachs policy requiring managers to interview two diverse candidates for any open job, there is no question that the “Rooney Rule,” first adopted by the National Football League (NFL) in 2003,...more
Employers across the country are on watch after a recent flurry of news about hairstyle discrimination. Earlier this year, a black news anchor in Jackson, Mississippi, alleged she was fired after wearing “unprofessional”...more
With PERA’s full implementation on September 1, 2016, it is important to remember that all full-time probationary teachers who are first employed with a school district after a district’s PERA implementation date are subject...more
On Thursday, September 13, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) signaled its intent to return to its pre-Obama Board test for establishing joint-employer status....more
9/18/2018
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Deregulation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
In Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood, LLC, the National Labor Relations Board recently ruled in a 2-1 decision that the employer unlawfully discharged an employee who had written “whore board” on an overtime sign-up...more
As widely anticipated, the U.S. Supreme Court just held by a 5-4 vote that fair share agreements are unconstitutional. (Janus v. AFSCME). The decision is effective immediately and requires all public bodies to cease...more
6/28/2018
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Fair Share Contribution ,
First Amendment ,
Janus v AFSCME ,
Non-Union ,
Payroll Deductions ,
Public Sector Unions ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Stare Decisis ,
Union Dues
In an unusual, coordinated litigation strategy, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) last week filed seven lawsuits alleging workplace harassment. The lawsuits – which followed a reconvening of an EEOC task...more
6/21/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Proposed Guidance ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Sexual Harassment