More great news for workers in Illinois! Last week, Illinois passed legislation which prohibits employers from asking applicants about their pay history during the hiring process. The No Salary History law is an important step in closing the racial and gender wage gaps.

Before this law, employers could ask an applicant questions about their salary history. This helped to perpetuate lower …

Read more ›

After two long years of planning, advocacy, and negotiations, Chicago City Council has passed the Fair Workweek Ordinance.  The Ordinance protects employees from last minute shift changes and gives low wage earners some predictability in their schedules and, as a result, some degree of financial stability.  This is a huge win for Chicago’s employees and we are excited to see …

Read more ›

Chicago Pride 2019 is done, wrapping up a month-long celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. This year’s Pride drew in record numbers of an estimated 100,000 people from all over the world, coming together to celebrate being themselves. However, while crowds came out in droves to show their support of the LGBT community, it is still important …

Read more ›

Employees can be the first line of defense against workplace violence but only if they know what to look for and what to do about it.

On February 15 an employee at an Aurora, Illinois manufacturing plant walked into work believing he was going to be fired that day.  Those of us in the Chicagoland area know what happened after that–he …

Read more ›

Early indicators say yes.

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of serving as a moderator at the American Bar Association’s 2019 National Symposium of Technology in Labor and Employment Law.  I moderated a panel of three brilliant lawyers talking about Artificial Intelligence in the workplace.  And, as those of us in attendance learned, it’s a brave new world out there.

A picture …

Read more ›

Kristin Case and Kate Sedey have once again been recognized by their peers and the Illinois Super Lawyers Association.  Ms. Case was rated a “Super Lawyer” for her work in the field of employment and labor and Ms. Sedey was rated a “Rising Star” for her work litigating employment-related matters.  Ms. Case has now been recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers every year since …

Read more ›

We are pleased to announce that Leading Lawyers has named Kristin Case a Leading Lawyer and Kate Sedey an Emerging Lawyer for 2019.

To receive the Leading Lawyer distinction, attorneys are recommended by their peers and approved by the Leading Lawyers Illinois Advisory Board.  Fewer than 5% of Illinois lawyers receive this distinction.

To be chosen as an Emerging Lawyer, an attorney …

Read more ›

Perhaps you saw the news this weekend that on the eve of launching her new book, Omarosa Manigault Newman (former White House political aide and reality-TV alum) has produced what she contends is a secret workplace recording of White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly, firing her.  Just this morning Omarosa released another tape which appears to be President Trump …

Read more ›

The ADA turns 28 today.  

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law 28 years ago today by President George H.W. Bush.  (Remember when we used to have presidents who believed people with disabilities were worthy of respect and protection rather than ridicule?)

Since 1990 the Act has provided people with disabilities protections from discrimination at work and access …

Read more ›

The recent arbitration decision could backfire on employers.

The Supreme Court really stuck it to employees in their recent Epic Systems decision.  We’ve written about arbitration provisions in general here and why they can be bad for employees.   As if giving up your right to a jury trial wasn’t bad enough, arbitration agreements also sometimes contain class action waivers.  Employers …

Read more ›