On May 8, 2019, the Seventh Circuit reaffirmed its test for determining employee status under federal anti-discrimination laws, holding that a physician lacked standing to bring Title VII claims against the hospital at which...more
5/15/2019
/ Anti-Doping Issues ,
Appeals ,
Classification ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Negligent Hiring ,
Non-Employees ,
Peer Review ,
Physicians ,
Standing ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII
Last week, Proskauer’s Chicago office, in partnership with HSBC Bank (HSBC), hosted a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) clinic to assist 12 pro bono clients with preparing their DACA renewal applications.
The...more
On February 15, 2019, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Andeavor Corporation f/k/a Tesoro Corporation on a SOX whistleblower claim, concluding that the plaintiff lacked an objectively...more
On January 15, 2019, the First Circuit ruled that a plaintiff adequately alleges protected activity under the FCA whistleblower protection provision where he asserts that he reported concerns about his employer’s conduct that...more
On January 23, 2019, the Seventh Circuit held that the ADEA’s prohibition of disparate impact discrimination do not extend to job applicants. Kleber v. CareFusion Corp., No. 17-cv-1206....more
On January 25, 2019, in a closely watched case, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that a plaintiff need not allege or demonstrate actual harm to have standing to pursue a claim under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy...more
1/28/2019
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Data Security ,
Data Storage ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Standing ,
Statutory Rights ,
Willful Violations
As 2018 draws to a close, state and local lawmakers in Illinois have been passing legislation that will further regulate a variety of employers’ practices. Here is a look at what Illinois employers can expect in 2019....more
12/13/2018
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Breastfeeding ,
Business Expenses ,
Day of Rest Laws ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Exemptions ,
First Responders ,
Human Rights ,
Local Ordinance ,
Military Service Members ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reemployment ,
Reimbursements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On November 20, 2018, the Illinois Supreme Court heard oral argument on whether a company’s technical violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) is sufficient to confer standing or whether a...more
On October 11, 2017, the Chicago City Council passed the Hotel Workers Sexual Harassment Ordinance (the “Ordinance”), which requires Chicago hotels to develop anti-sexual harassment policies and provide employees who work...more
10/30/2017
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Business Licenses ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Human Rights ,
Local Ordinance ,
Penalties ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII ,
Workplace Safety
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California recently dismissed a putative class action alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), finding that the named plaintiff lacked standing to...more
10/30/2017
/ Article III ,
Background Checks ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Statutory Rights ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
On June 20, 2017, the Seventh Circuit ruled that a defendant cannot moot the individual claims of a putative class representative by depositing an unaccepted settlement offer with the court covering all relief purportedly...more
6/24/2017
/ Appeals ,
Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
Class Action ,
Class Representatives ,
Mootness ,
Popular ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Reversal ,
Rule 68 ,
Settlement Offer ,
TCPA
On June 7, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a whistleblower retaliation claim under the Dodd-Frank Act because the plaintiff failed to report his complaint of alleged securities...more
On Monday, March 20, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in Verble v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC. (No. 16-946), thereby declining an opportunity to resolve a conflict amongst circuit...more
On March 1, 2017, the District of Maryland dismissed a Dodd Frank whistleblower retaliation claim because the plaintiff failed to allege that he had complained directly to the SEC about a violation of securities laws, and...more
On September 27, 2016, Proskauer Partner Steven J. Pearlman, co-head of the Whistleblowing & Retaliation Practice Group, participated in a Bloomberg webinar with Jane Norberg, Acting Chief of the SEC Office of the...more
9/30/2016
/ Best Practices ,
Confidential Information ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FOIA ,
Internal Investigations ,
OSHA ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Webinars ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
Poised to join the increasing number of cities that require paid sick leave, the Working Families Task Force (commissioned by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel) recently recommended that employees in Chicago be allowed to earn at...more
On March 17, 2016, the Eastern District of Kentucky dismissed whistleblower counter-claims against Allstate Insurance Company (“Company”), ruling that Defendant Kevin Keefe’s (“Plaintiff”) SOX claim was untimely and that his...more
On March 2, 2016, an Illinois Appellate court upheld a jury verdict awarding over $3 million to Plaintiff James Crowley (Plaintiff) on his whistleblower retaliation claim under the Illinois State Official and Employee Ethics...more
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) recently introduced the Whistleblower Augmented Reward and Non-Retaliation Act of 2016 (“WARN Act”), which aims to bolster whistleblower protections under both...more
On January 28, 2016, OSHA issued a revised Whistleblower Investigations Manual (“Manual”) outlining procedures for the handling of retaliation complaints under the various whistleblower statutes that OSHA oversees. Chapter 3...more
On November 4, 2015, the SEC announced that it would pay a former investment firm employee a whistleblower bounty award totaling more than $325,000. Notably, the SEC’s Order indicated that the award was decreased “because...more
A recent audit conducted by Inspector General (OIG) concluded that the training provided to OSHA whistleblower complaint investigators could be improved in material respects. It found that the absence of an official training...more
On September 30, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) published the findings of its audit of OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs (Whistleblower Programs). The audit focused on (1)...more
On August 26, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted summary judgment on a whistleblower retaliation claim under Section 806 of SOX, holding that Plaintiff Ivor Hill failed to establish a...more
The New Jersey Appellate Division recently upheld sanctions of more than $191,000 to Sunhillo Corporation (Company) in connection with its defense of claims under the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act, Fulton...more