Dan Churney News
Judge tells couple they can't sue Chicago for inadvertently sending their banking info to imprisoned man through FOIA request
A judge has ruled a husband and wife cannot continue their lawsuit against the city of Chicago, for mistakenly furnishing their bank records to man imprisoned for murder, saying the couple failed to show the error was part of a pattern and not a one-off.
Judge says trial needed to resolve CTU discrimination suit vs Chicago school board over treatment of Black teachers
A judge has refused to end a teachers union lawsuit, which accuses the Chicago Public Schools board of laying off Black teachers because of their race, saying only a jury can properly address the conflicting evidence.
Appeals court says SCOTUS decision on union fees only applies to fees extracted from non-union workers, not dues paid by union members
A federal appeals panel has said an ex-union member has no claim for dues voluntarily paid while a member, because the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus ruling only pertained to fees forcibly paid to unions by nonunion workers for represention.
IL appeals court tells two Chicago lawyers to pay Lisle's legal tab for 'meritless' Naperville annexation referendum drive
A state appeals panel has ordered two lawyers to pay the village of Lisle's legal fee for a "breathtakingly meritless" petition drive to have Naperville annex Lisle, saying the petition effort was frivolous.
Appeals court says PT practice Athletico wrong to assign lien on settlement funds to billing company Medchex
A state appeals panel has ruled a woman may continue to pursue her suit, which alleges a health care provider wrongly assigned a lien against her to a billing company, saying such a move deprived the woman of funds obtained in a personal injury case.
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Appeals panel tells husband to furnish late wife's psych records, in suit against Six Flags claiming park attack caused her suicide
An appeals panel has ordered a man, who is alleging Six Flags Great America didn't prevent an attack on his family at its park in Gurnee, to turn over mental health records for his wife, whom he claims committed suicide as a result of the attack.
IL High Court says misconduct suits against Chicago cops not grounds to overturn murder conviction
The Illinois Supreme Court has refused to undo the murder conviction of a man who claims he was framed by Chicago police, saying the fact detectives have been sued for alleged misconduct in other cases, doesn't constitute 'new evidence' to exonerate.
Judge won't toss suit alleging Illinois Central RR improperly required, watched worker give urine samples
A Chicago federal judge has refused to derail a suit against Illinois Central Railroad, which alleges a worker's privacy was violated when he was forced to provide urine samples, sometimes under observation.
Jewel-Osco says potentially massive class action over worker fingerprint scans filed too late, lacks facts
The company that owns Jewel-Osco is saying a putative class action, which alleges the grocery chain broke Illinois biometric law, should be thrown out because it is "conclusory and speculative."
ComEd says Madigan bribery-rate hike class actions should be tossed, because state regulators OK'd higher rates
ComEd is telling a judge he should pull the plug on multimillion-dollar class action suits, which allege ComEd bribed state Democratic figures to jack up electric rates, because the rates were authorized by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Cook County says ex-county officials can't be 'consultants' for Wells Fargo in reverse redlining suit
Cook County wants to know the arrangements between Wells Fargo and former county officials, whom the bank hired as consultants to help fight the county's suit, which alleges Wells Fargo contributed to the post-2008 mortgage crisis by its discriminatory lending practices.
Federal judge says state anti-panhandling rules violate free speech, is unconstitutional
To settle a federal lawsuit by two panhandlers in Downers Grove, the Illinois State Police and DuPage County State's Attorney's Office are agreeing to not enforce an anti-panhandling law, which the judge in the case said violates free speech.
IL Supreme Court says school board may suspend, rather than fire, teachers during termination process
Forcing a school system to either fire or reinstate a teacher, rather than suspending them, once termination proceedings begin, would "eviscerate" the ability of school boards to set rules and run their school districts, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled.
Judge agrees to let housekeepers press class action accusing employer of shorting pay for travel time to jobs
A federal judge has ruled two former housekeepers may pursue, for now, a class action against Chicago-area Best Maids cleaning service, for allegedly not paying maids for travel time between worksites.
IL appeals panel says public schools can be sued for up to 20 years when it involves alleged sex abuse of kids
An Illinois appeals court has ruled the Childhood Sexual Abuse Act's 20-year statute of limitations overrides the Tort Immunity Act's one-year statute, in a case in which a woman sued her Sangamon County high school years after a coach last allegedly molested her.
Judge says men suing Chicago cops over sham arrests, may be grilled about any potential real crimes after bad busts
A federal magistrate judge has decided lawyers representing the city of Chicago and former Chicago cops can question the people suing them over false arrests, about uncharged criminal behavior that occurred in the years after their alleged sham convictions.
Lightfoot court brief: City OK to crack down on anti-lockdown protests, but not BLM, because BLM marches much bigger
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has argued in court that the size of a protest can determine whether the city has the constitutional discretion to disperse the assembly over public health concerns.
Clerk Yarbrough fights Shakman's effort to extend federal oversight to recorder's duties given her
Now that the Cook County Recorder of Deeds Office has merged with County Clerk Karen Yarbrough's office, a federal watchdog over the clerk's hiring practices wants court permission to also keep an eye on recorder activities, but Yarbrough is resisting.
Appeals court says lawyers for police misconduct whistleblower deserve fees that nearly equal whistleblower's take
An Illinois appeals panel has ruled attorneys for Chicago Police whistleblower Lorenzo Davis, deserve nearly as much in fees as Davis collected in his suit against the city for firing him.
IL High Court: Expert witnesses can cite regulatory, industry standards in court; Data must still be filtered through judges
The Illinois Supreme Court has said expert witnesses may cite governmental recommendations and industry standards as reasons for their findings, but the reasons must first pass muster with the judge.