Jonathan Bilyk News
Villa Park school district: Father's parental rights don't trump school's obligations to 'support transgender youth'
A father sued Villa Park School DIstrict 45, accusing school officials of conspiring with his ex-wife, to aid their child's transition from male to female over the father's objections, allegedly violating the father's constitutional parental rights
Openly progressive Dem judge, ex-Lake County Sheriff appear poised for election battle for possible control of IL Supreme Court
Lake County Judge Elizabeth Rochford, backed by powerful Illinois Democrats, cruised to easy win in the Democratic primary for Illinois' Second Judicial District seat on the state Supreme Court. Ex-Lake Co. Sheriff Mark Curran held a narrow vote lead over Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes in the Republican primary contest
How 'concrete' an injury is 'emotional distress?' Federal appeals court grapples with question
A group of four federal appeals court judges says the Seventh Circuit was wrong to toss out a woman's class action claims that a creditor should pay for inflicting "emotional distress" when it sought to collect a "zombie debt"
SCOTUS: Airline ramp workers exempt from arbitration mandates, more class actions vs transportation employers inbound?
The U.S. Supreme Court says Southwest Airlines ramp workers are involved in interstate commerce, and should be given exemption under federal law from mandatory arbitration clauses in their employment contracts
Judge: Illinois prejudgment lawsuit interest law unconstitutional
A Cook County judge said the law supported by Democratic state lawmakers and Gov. JB Pritzker illegally interferes with jury rights and authority, while improperly penalizing defendants, and gifting personal injury plaintiffs with special benefits not given to anyone else in Illinois
Lawsuit: Illinois illegally counts mail-in votes for federal office up to 2 weeks after Election Day
Three Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Michael Bost, have sued the state of Illinois, arguing federal law sets the date of Election Day, and Illinois' vote-by-mail illegally extends Election Day by 14 days
Appeals court: Pritzker 2020 biz closure orders, alone, not enough to allow biz owners to sue for illegal takings
The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected yet another challenge to Pritzker's long-running use of emergency executive powers amid the Covid pandemic, saying plaintiffs didn't provide enough to back their sprawling claims that Pritzker trampled their rights
'Legal 3-and-out with a punt:' Judge ends FoxFire suit vs Pritzker restaurant orders; Lawyer worries about precedent
An attorney for Geneva restaurant FoxFire says the case law set in challenges vs Gov. JB Pritzker's use of emergency power sets bad precedent for future, allowing governors to get away with issuing constitutionally 'questionable' orders
'Astronomical damages:' IL high court ponders how many fingerprints should be worth up to $5K each under IL biometrics law
With potentially billions of dollars on the line, justices on the state high court must answer the question of how many repeated scans of fingerprints and other biometric data should cost Illinois employers $1,000-$5,000 each under the state's stringent Biometric Information Privacy Act
Judicial Inquiry Board: Appeals judge Sheldon Harris talked with other judges about nephew's case, testified falsely
The Illinois state board tasked with investigating misconduct accusations against judges has asked the Illinois Courts Commission to discipline First District Appellate Justice Sheldon A. Harris, who has announced he is retiring later this year
Google to pay $100M to end biometrics class action over Photos face scans; Class members could get $200-$400
The deal would end litigation dating back to 2016. Lawyers could be in line for potentially more than $30 million
Cook County can't use $250M transportation taxes, fees, to fund county operations: IL Supreme Court
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled the Illinois state constitution's transportation lockbox amendment applies to local governments, just as to the state
Lawsuit: Pro-union IL constitutional amendment would clash with federal law, U.S. Constitution, must be struck down
A group of Cook County taxpayers, with lawyers from the Liberty Justice Center and Illinois Policy Institute, say the measure, known as Amendment 1, would unconstitutionally give unions expansive new powers that exceed the limits on union organizing and bargaining set by federal law
Lawsuit: 'Cartel' of politically connected, wealthy Chicago families, including Pritzkers, dominate IL marijuana market
True Social Equity in Cannabis accuses the Pritzker, Wrigley and Kovler families of using political connections and influence to monopolize the state's regulated marijuana dispensary markets
DeVore lawsuit: Pritzker, IL Dept of Corrections COVID vax or test mandate illegally tramples workers' rights
The lawsuit argues neither state law or any union-related negotiation or arbitration should allow Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Corrections to ignore due process rights afforded to IDOC workers under the state's public health laws
CPS can't force teachers to get COVID vax, get tested, or get fired, Springfield judge says
Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow says Chicago Public Schools lacks authority under state law to enforce its so-called vax-or-test mandate, and also can't rely on its contract with the Chicago Teachers Union to sidestep the law
Watchdogs: Woman who got COD no-bid contracts is 'public figure,' can't sue those who reported story for defamation
A new filing in the long-running defamation case asserts news articles published by the Edgar County Watchdogs about no-bid professional services contracts secured by Carla Burkhart from College of DuPage, in which the Watchdogs reported she falsely claimed to be an architect, are protected by the First Amendment
Fed hiring monitor asks court to order Pritzker administration give details about IDPH lab tech hires
Hiring monitors, including an Illinois state inspector general and a federal court appointed special master, say the state has refused to divulge more information concerning how a number of unqualified people, including relatives of state workers who held no college degrees and worked at places like ice cream shops and laser tag arenas, were hired as “lab techs” by the Illinois Department of Public Health in 2020
IL legislation would OK 'predatory lending practices' in third-party lawsuit funding, boost costs for all, biz groups warn
SB1099, the so-called Consumer Legal Funding Act, would produce even more lawsuits, that take longer to settle, while allowing lawsuit investors to charge 18% interest rates, assessed every 6 months, to people borrowing money to fund lawsuits, business groups say
Cook County judge: Health officials ordering quarantine must respect constitutional rights, prove medical basis
A Cook County judge last month rejected the attempt by the Cook County Department of Public Health to force a seventh grader to be excluded from school for 10 days, even though the student had tested negative, saying the health officials needed to do more than merely insinuate the student might be contagious