Cook County Record

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Cook County Record News

Federal Court

Class action: Walgreens mismanaged retirement funds, cost workers $300M by investing in underperforming funds

By Cook County Record | Aug 9, 2019

A new class action asserts Walgreens owes tens of thousands of retirees and employees money for allegedly mismanaging their retirement accounts by leaving investments in underperforming funds, costing employees more than $300 million in retirement savings.

Lawsuits

Class action accuses Office Furniture LLC of violating biometrics identifier act

By Cook County Record | Aug 8, 2019

An office furniture seller and its corporate parent has been hit with a class action lawsuit, accusing it of violating an Illinois biometric privacy law by requiring workers to scan their fingerprints when punching the time clock each shift.

Lawsuits

Class action: Brake maker Power Stop wrongly forced workers to scan 'biometric identifiers' when punching clock

By Cook County Record | Aug 7, 2019

A man who formerly worked for a car brake maker has filed a class action lawsuit, accusing his employer of violating an Illinois privacy law in the way it required employees to scan their "biometrics" when punching in and out of work shifts.

Hot Topics

Willowbrook, other communities can weigh in on deal to possibily let Sterigenics reopen; permit talks continue

By Cook County Record | Jul 25, 2019

A DuPage County judge has decided to allow a group of suburban communities the opportunity to weigh in on an agreement between Illinois state officials and Sterigenics, keeping in place at least until September a state order that has shuttered its Willowbrook plant for five months. However, the company and the state’s environmental agency also continue to discuss the permits Sterigenics would need to reopen the plant.

State Court

Crane maker Terex defeats $248M lawsuit over engineer's injuries from 2014 Elgin crane accident on I-90

By Cook County Record | Jul 18, 2019

Connecticut-based construction crane maker Terex has staved off a $248 million lawsuit brought by the family of a civil engineer who was severely injured when the arm of construction crane fell on him in 2014 while on the site of a bridge project for the recent reconstruction of Interstate 90 in Elgin.

Hot Topics

Sterigenics, state reach deal to end lawsuits over Willowbrook facility shutdown, emissions, allow plant to reopen

By Cook County Record | Jul 17, 2019

Medical device sterilizer Sterigenics has secured a path to reopening its plant in suburban Willowbrook, which has remained shuttered since February when state regulators under Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker ordered it closed over pollution concerns, even though the plant never violated the terms of its state operating permit.

Federal Court

Prenda Law's Steele sentenced to 5 years in prison for role in $3M shakedown scheme vs online porn downloaders

By Cook County Record | Jul 10, 2019

A former Chicago lawyer, one of the principals at Prenda Law and one of the masterminds behind a scheme to secure millions of dollars in settlements as part of a shakedown scheme targeted at those downloading online porn, has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Appeals

Appeals court: Wisconsin county not liable for $4M verdict for two former inmates sexually assaulted by guard

By Cook County Record | Jul 5, 2019

A divided panel of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has decided a Wisconsin county can't be made to pay millions of dollars in damages to two female former jail inmates who were sexually assaulted by a jail correctional officer.

Lawsuits

Appeals court: Insurer can exclude coverage for drunk, high drivers; Widow's claim for husband's death barred

By Cook County Record | Jul 1, 2019

ELGIN -- A state appeals court has ruled an insurance company was right to deny a claim that a policy was not enforceable due to a supplementary provision relating to an intoxicated driver operating a vehicle.

Lawsuits

New IL ethylene oxide law could keep Sterigenics closed, keep new sterilization plans out of state

By Cook County Record | Jun 26, 2019

A new Illinois state law, which contains ethylene oxide regulations without peer anywhere else in the country, could make it all but impossible for a now-shuttered sterilization facility to reopen or for medical device sterilizers to open new plants in the state. And, despite the strict new law, Illinois’ chief legal officer has pledged to continue the state’s legal action to punish Sterigenics, which operated a sterilization plant in Willowbrook.

Elections

Chicago Inspector General asks court to order ex-alderman candidate Siaw to testify in campaign finance inquiry

By Cook County Record | Jun 18, 2019

Chicago’s city Inspector General has asked a Cook County judge to force a former candidate for Chicago alderman to testify amid an investigation into campaign finance law violations.

Lawsuits

Prenda Law's Hansmeier sentenced to 14 years for shakedown scheme targeting porn downloaders

By Cook County Record | Jun 17, 2019

Paul Hansmeier, one of two Prenda lawyers behind a scheme to use lawsuit threats to allegedly shakedown downloaders of online porn, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Lawsuits

IL appeals panel: Skokie firefighter with aneurysm entitled to free lifetime health care; village disputes if 'work-related'

By Cook County Record | Jun 12, 2019

A state appeals panel has ruled Skokie wrongly denied a firefighter free lifetime health insurance benefits, saying it didn't matter the firefighter continued on the job in the same capacity after he was diagnosed with an aneurysm, nearly a year before he allegedly suffered symptoms following a work incident

Lawsuits

Chicago appeals court poised to decide if key Supreme Court decision applies to federal class actions

By Cook County Record | Jun 10, 2019

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is poised to become the first appeals court in the country to decide whether a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision could stop additional plaintiffs from joining class action lawsuits in states where they don't live.

Lawsuits

Sterigenics: IL slow-walking document requests, depositions, 'afraid truth will come out' over shutdown order

By Cook County Record | Jun 7, 2019

Saying state officials are afraid “the truth will come out” about Gov. JB Pritzker’s order to close Sterigenics’ Willowbrook facility, Sterigenics has asked a DuPage County judge to force state officials to speed up their response to Sterigenics’ lawsuit and allow Sterigenics’ lawyers to question top Illinois environmental regulators under oath.

Lawsuits

IL state worker who 'physically attacked' supervisor, but kept job, awarded $360K back pay in state budget

By Cook County Record | Jun 6, 2019

An Illinois state employee who physically assaulted her supervisor, but was protected by her union and allowed to keep her job, has been awarded $360,000 in back pay as part of Illinois’ new state budget.

Discipline

IL Supreme Court disbars 8 attorneys, including ex-lawyer who tried to hire man to kill ex-wife; suspends 11

By Cook County Record | May 30, 2019

A former Homer Glen attorney who was convicted of trying to hire someone to murder his ex-wife is among a group of eight lawyers disbarred in May by the Illinois Supreme Court. The state high court also suspended 11 other Illinois lawyers, including a downstate lawyer who falsified his home address to seek election as a circuit judge.

Lawsuits

Different IL A/G 'opinion' could backfire casinos' effort to block fantasy sports sites from IL sports betting market

By Cook County Record | May 20, 2019

A provision intended to use an "advisory opinion" from former Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madign to keep online daily fantasy sports sites from grabbing a piece of a new legal Illinois sports betting market for three years could also penalize the casino and race track operators supporting the penalty, as they also could run afoul of a different advisory opinion, authored in 2001 by former Ill. Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan.

Lawsuits

Chicago couple says Chicago Tenants Rights lawyers mishandled $3,400 deposit suit, owe $86K in fees

By Cook County Record | Apr 29, 2019

A Chicago couple has asked a Cook County judge to order the Chicago Tenants Rights Law firm to pay more than $86,000, accusing the firm of mishandling their case against a landlord over a $3,400 security deposit and leaving the couple on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in attorney fees.

Lawsuits

Sterigenics shutdown crimps supply of medical devices, as courts mull next steps, procedural motions

By Cook County Record | Apr 16, 2019

As state and federal courts grapple with the legal questions of what comes next, a state-imposed shutdown of a Willowbrook medical device sterilization facility has begun to have ripple effects for health care facilities and patients far from the suburbs of Chicago.