Employees and employers alike in the Chicago area should know about a recent class action lawsuit filed against the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (UIUC). The case, Brown v. Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, alleges employment discrimination on the basis of race under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law, and the Illinois Civil…
Chicago Mayoral Candidate was targeted recently over her support of anti-discrimination legislation introduced in Congress to protect members of the LGBTQ community against employment discrimination. According to a March 19, 2019 NBC News report, a distribution of homophobic flyers across Chicago’s South Side portrayed mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot as supporting a ‘Gay Equality Act’ in Illinois. While the front side of the flyers…
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear three cases this fall concerning LGBT employment discrimination, according to a CBS Chicago report. Each of the three cases arise under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law. Ultimately, the Court’s ruling may affect LGBT employees’ rights. The outcome will determine whether LGBT workers can file a federal claim for sexual…
Just as the partial government shutdown shuttered the doors at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced a $4.9 million settlement in a religious discrimination case. According to the agency, the shipping company refused to hire persons with long hair or beards, even if their appearance had a religious reason. Furthermore, UPS delayed religious accommodation requests or denied them outright, according…
Chinatown’s Xing Ying Employment Agency promised workers good wages and pleasant employment conditions. But instead, according to court documents, the company “essentially acted as central a supply house for a buffet restaurant industry seeking to profit from illegal and exploitative wages and conditions of employment.” Again according to court documents, the Agency ran advertisements in Chinese-language newspapers targeting immigrant workers. Once these…
Many EEOC cases involve sexual harassment claims. The EEOC is anxious to resolve these cases, and that attitude sometimes works in the defendant’s favor. On June 25, 2017, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that Anchor Staffing would pay $30,000 to settle sexual harassment and retaliation allegations. Court documents state that the temporary agency refused to give Ana Magdana more work after…
Some states have adopted or contemplated adopting so-called “religious freedom” laws. These laws create a risk of allowing religious groups, or businesses, to discriminate against others when their religions call for it. For example, many Christian groups look down upon the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual (LGBT) community, and may refuse clientele that are gay. Even if a particular state does…
America has long prided itself on diversity, freedom of religion, and equality. However, our country is still fighting its roots of slavery, Native American eradication, and subjugation of women. America’s past continues to haunt us to this day, particularly in respect to the workplace. Workplace discrimination occurs in many forms, such as refusing to hire a certain individual because of…
Chances are, many of us will have some sort of serious medical condition at some point in our lives. After all, one in four Americans visits an emergency room each year, according to Gallup. While getting a few stitches for slicing a finger while cutting an avocado or bagel is not a serious medical condition, there are many other instances that…
Hate crimes against Muslims have never been higher in the U.S. than now. Even in 2001 after the September 11th attack on the Twin Towers, hate crimes against Muslims were fewer, according to the Pew Research Center. Hate crimes are not always easy to prove, and only a fraction of hate crimes are even treated or reported as such. Under the…