Jonathan Bilyk News
Arbitration agreements may defeat OT wage class action vs retail merchandising biz
A Springfield judge sided with Taylorville-based Driveline Retail Merchandising in dispute with merchandisers from throughout U.S. who accused company of shorting wages and OT under federal and state law
Did IL just try again to ban E-Verify? New law could leave employers facing hard choices, big challenges
The new law could leave Illinois employers facing a choice between abiding by competing state and federal immigrant employment laws and requirements, and leave Illinois facing another day in court defending a law which could stand in defiance to federal laws governing immigrant work eligibility
Illinois ban on carrying concealed weapons on transit unconstitutional, judge says
A Rockford federal judge particularly called a legal theory advanced by Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx that government can ban guns on all public property "breathtaking, jawdropping, and eyepopping" for the harm it could deliver to constitutional rights everywhere
Farmer owes $7.4M to Monsanto for allegedly taking company's soybean seeds
A Springfield federal judge says a Carlinville farmer afraid of getting stiffed in deal over contract to grow herbicide-resistant soybeans for Monsanto to distribute to retailers improperly took a portion of the crop to use to raise his own crop the following year
IL law doesn't protect car dealers from competition if car makers want to sell direct to buyers: IL appeals court
A state appeals panel has rejected the attempt by Illinois car dealerships to sue the state for granting licenses to electric car makers Rivian and Lucid to sell their vehicles to consumers without going through third-party franchise dealers
Keeven will be on ballot this fall vs Stuart; IL Supreme Court can't declare Dems' 'anti-slating' law constitutional
The Illinois Supreme Court could not come up with a four-member majority to overturn a Springfield judge's ruling that a new "anti-slating" law supported by Gov. Pritzker and his fellow Democrats was unconstitutional.
Appeals court: GOP congressman, voters can't sue IL for counting mail-in votes 2 weeks after Election Day
A divided federal appeals panel sided with the state and Democrats in tossing out a lawsuit challenging Illinois law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted up to 14 days after Election Day. A dissenting judge said the U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, who led the lawsuit, was wrongly denied the chance to have his case heard
Appeals court tosses Dorman suit challenging IL ban on short-barreled rifles
The Fifth District Appellate Court said the state's ban on short-barreled rifles doesn't violate the Second Amendment or recent Supreme Court decisions because federal courts have consistently ruled that such weapons aren't commonly used for self-defense, but rather for crimes
Elections hearing officer: New IL ballot access law shouldn't apply to GOP candidate who filed before law was signed
Illinois candidates and voters still await an Illinois Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of a ballot access law, which GOPers say was designed to block them from the Nov. ballot. That decision shouldn't matter for at least one GOP candidate who filed the day before Pritzker signed the law, a hearing officer said
IL trial lawyers say state high court should remove rule limiting lawsuit 'forum shopping' in IL courts
The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association has urged the Illinois Supreme Court to use a case over the fate of a state law that limits where Illinoisans can challenge potentially unconstitutional laws to instead abolish a court rule that businesses can use to avoid being sued in Cook County, other unfriendly courts
Unions can defend vs attempts to force IL to clean up voter rolls, judge says
A federal judge in Chicago has given two powerful labor unions the right to fight in court against a lawsuit brought conservative activist groups seeking to force the state of Illinois more stringently comply with federal law requiring the state and local election authorities to purge voter rolls of dead and otherwise ineligible voters
'True colors?' IL Dems say GOPers can't run in Nov because didn't face primary voters, but back Harris for Prez
Gov. Pritzker and Speaker Welch are defending an Illinois law that would block Republican candidates from 2024 ballot because they didn't run in the primary. At the same time, they also back VP Harris for President, even though she was selected by party bosses and has never run in a presidential primary
Judge tosses civil rights suit vs Quincy bar owners over attack on Quincy U. women's basketball player
A Springfield federal judge said plaintiff Jazzpher Evans, who was brutally assaulted by the white male former owner of The Barn of Quincy in 2021, did not follow rules laid out in federal and state civil rights laws before filing suit against the owners of the establishment
Feds can use lending law to try to punish Townstone for alleged discriminatory radio show comments
A federal appeals panel said a lower court wrongly tossed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's action vs Townstone Financial because the judge had imposed a 'crabbed' interpretation of a federal lending discrimination law that limited the agency's ability to protect black prospective loan applicants
Keeven faces objection to candidacy centered on GOP-blocking state law judge declared unconstitutional
The Illinois Supreme Court could rule on the constitutionality of the law soon, as State House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch seeks to reverse a Springfield judge's determination that Democrats wrongly changed election rules in the middle of the game, violating Republicans' voting rights
Supreme Court won't step in - yet - to overturn Illinois 'assault weapons' ban
The U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions from Illinois gun owners to review a Chicago federal appeals court's decision allowing Illinois' controversial gun ban law to take effect. Justice Clarence Thomas, however, called that decision 'nonsensical,' and warned the Illinois law will ultimately face a difficult reception at the high court
Cook Co 'assault weapons' ban not constitutional, even under prior appeals court ruling upholding IL gun ban: Filing
Second Amendment rights advocates urged the Seventh Circuit Appeals Court to strike down Cook County's "assault weapons" ban ordinance and overrule their colleagues, saying the ordinance and the decision violate the Constitution and clash with two Supreme Court rulings
Judge: Lawsuit investor Burford can't stop Pilgrim's Pride from settling Sysco's meat price fixing lawsuits
A Chicago federal judge, who had earlier agreed that lawsuit investor Burford Capital could seize control of food supplier Sysco's legal claims as part of a sprawling antitrust action over meat prices, said meat producer Pilgrim's Pride had an enforceable settlement deal with Sysco, which bound Burford
Appeals panel: Non-Facebook users can't sue Meta for biometric face scans that couldn't ID them
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that a San Francisco federal judge wasn't wrong to unplug a lawsuit accusing Facebook-parent Meta of allegedly violating an Illinois biometrics privacy law by using its photo upload system to scan photos for faces, even of non-users
Class action plaintiffs, lawyers could get stake in facial recognition firm Clearview under deal
The "creative" settlement would allow potentially many thousands of class member plaintiffs and their lawyers to scrape together millions of dollars from tech startup Clearview, which was sued for alleged violations of Illinois' biometric privacy law and other privacy statutes