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Illinois

Court shoots down argument based on bizarre racism ‘proof’

06/25/2012
A federal trial court hearing a discrimination case has refused to accept a new and rather bizarre legal theory. The plaintiff alleged that a principle called “psychological projection” can prove that someone is a racist because he falsely alleges that someone else is racist.

EEOC charges? Don’t break off conciliation too early

06/25/2012
When the EEOC wants to take a dis­crimination case to court, it is required to try to settle the case first. That conciliation process is a two-way street. Employers can’t walk away from the process, expecting a court to dismiss a subsequent lawsuit because the agency didn’t try hard enough.

Policy calls for firing after leave is exhausted? Make sure you apply it consistently

06/25/2012
If you automatically discharge everyone who can’t return to work after exhausting all available leave, chances are a court won’t second-guess those terminations.

Safeguard your personal assets from lawsuits: Prepare to show that your actions were unbiased

06/25/2012
No matter the bad behavior of supervisors, always be ready to prove to a court that you execute your duties without any hint of bias. Doing so may save HR professionals like you from personal liability.

Call lawyer ASAP if your last-chance agreements require employees to give up Title VII rights

06/25/2012
The EEOC has just won a significant legal victory without even having to go to trial. It recently alleged that some last-chance agreements automatically violate Title VII if they prevent employees from filing EEOC actions. The agreements in question contained a clause that had em­­ployees promising not to file discrimination charges in exchange for keeping their jobs.

Judge fed up with All-Feed in OSHA inspection case

06/25/2012
A federal judge has cited Alpha-based All-Feed Processing & Pack­­ag­­ing Inc. for contempt after it refused to allow OSHA inspectors full access to its Galva facility.

Illinois EEOC discrimination complaints up sharply in 2011

06/25/2012
Although Illinois accounts for just 4.1% of the nation’s population, 6.1% of all EEOC discrimination charges originated in Illinois in fiscal year 2011.

Sound policy beats post-firing lawsuits

06/25/2012
You just terminated an employee for misconduct or poor performance. A few weeks later, you receive an EEOC complaint alleging that the employee suffered years of harassment and discrimination. If you didn’t have clear rules in place for reporting such conduct, you may be facing years of litigation.

No Title VII protection for illegal immigrants

06/25/2012

Employers can’t discriminate against someone based on her  national origin. But what about discrimination based on whether someone is in the country illegally? Is that also national-origin discrimination? The answer is a resounding “No!” according to a recent 7th Circuit Court of Appeals case.

State laws on mandatory employee breaks

06/11/2012

The Fair Labor Standards Act doesn’t require you to provide employees with meal breaks. It does require you to pay employees whose meal breaks last for fewer than 30 minutes and those who work through their meal breaks. However, 40 states do have laws covering meal and rest breaks. This chart summarizes those laws.