Jonathan Bilyk News
CTU can't quickly pull plug on lawsuit demanding release of years of missing audited financials
A Cook County judge cleared the way for a group of Chicago Teachers Union members to continue their legal action against the politically powerful union for refusing repeated demands to produce audited annual financial reports, missing since 2020, allegedly in violation of rules under the CTU's constitution
Harvey escapes, for now, lawsuit over city's bid to squeeze O'Reilly's Auto Parts for strip mall's unpaid taxes
A federal judge, for now, has tossed a lawsuit brought by O'Reilly's Auto Parts, seeking to stop the city of Harvey from attempting to use an allegedly manufactured dispute over the store's business license to force the retailer to pay their landlord's delinquent property taxes
Judge blocks Glen Ellyn Airbnb ban
A federal judge has slammed the door, for now, on enforcement of a ban on Airbnb-style short term rentals in west suburban Glen Ellyn. The judge said an Airbnb owner is likely to win on claims the ordinance is unconstitutional regulatory taking of private property
Amid lawsuits, Bally's drops anti-white racial rules for Chicago casino investment
Casino operator Bally's has dropped rules in its IPO for its proposed Chicago casino which limited investment opportunity to black and other racial minorities, in keeping with demands from Chicago City Hall. The move came about three months since lawsuits were filed challenging the alleged blatant anti-white discrimination
CPS will pay half of $2.6M deal to end ex-students' suit over forced Hindu meditation
The Chicago Public Schools and the David Lynch Foundation have agreed to pay $1.3M each to 773 ex-Chicago high school students and their lawyers to settle claims the schools forced students to participate in religious meditation rites. Lawyers will get $860K
'High-low' settlement offers not enough to sidestep pre-judgment interest add-ons to verdicts: Appeals panel
An Illinois state appeals panel rejected an attempt by hospital and health care system Advocate to use a so-called 'high-low' settlement offer to undo a portion of a $21M malpractice verdict. The appeals panel said the settlement offer wasn't sufficient under an Illinois state law establishing plaintiffs' right to pre-judgment interest
IL appeals court: Time has arrived for IL Supreme Court to rein in Dems' unconstitutional lawmaking
A Fifth District appeals court justice urged the Illinois Supreme Court to check Democratic lawmakers' "continued disregard" for the Illinois state constitution's rules when enacting controversial new laws, including the so-called "assault weapons" ban.
Legal team suing Evanston D65 secures federal investigation into alleged anti-white school policies, programs
The Department of Education under Trump announced they were investigating Evanston District 65 for allegedly discriminating against white students and teachers. The investigation stemmed from a complaint filed by the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which is representing a teacher who has sued D65 since 2021 for racial discrimination
Feds seek to strike down IL law that threatens employers for using E-Verify
Critics have said a new IL 'workplace privacy' law sets up a 'Catch-22' for employers using E-Verify to screen out illegal immigrants, forcing them to choose to follow state or federal law. The Justice Department says the IL law trespasses onto federal authority
Lawsuits claim Chicago cops have abused constitutional rights of street preachers
Two lawsuits from different street preachers - one arrested outside of a Planned Parenthood facility and three others outside of Millennium Park - say Chicago Police officers wrongly cuffed, detained and cited them under a Chicago city ordinance which did not prohibit their use of amplification to share religious messages
IL FOID gun owner licensing law constitutional, appeals court says; Dissent: Ruling 'stands 2A on its head'
Illinois is OK to require gun owners to first obtain a state-issued FOID card without violating the Second Amendment, a split state appeals panel has ruled, because the state merely attempts to screen out felons and other 'safety threats.' A dissenting judge said the FOID law is the 'definition of unconstitutional'
'The Lick:' Archdiocese sues gang member 'fraudsters' accused of filing fake clergy sex abuse suits to land 'free money'
The Chicago Roman Catholic Archdiocese says it has become the victim of a racketeering enterprise run by members of Chicago street gangs, who they say have partnered with trial lawyers to use fake sex abuse claims to extort 'for sure money' settlements as part of a 'lick,' or scam, vs the church
Judge: Chicago cops don't have constitutional right to fair, unbiased investigations when accused of misconduct
A federal judge has tossed, for now, a lawsuit from eight Chicago Police officers and their union, which accused the city and its Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) of conducting flawed investigations tainted by anti-cop bias, resulting in possible suspensions from duty
Judge: Mercedes can't sue Chicago for empowering city workers to complicate car impound reclaim process
A federal judge said Mercedes Benz had no constitutional claims against the city of Chicago for allegedly giving city workers too much power to complicate the process vehicle owners and lienholders must navigate to recover vehicles impounded for unpaid parking tickets before the vehicle is "disposed of"
IL high court: State OK to restrict constitutional challenges to state laws solely to Chicago, Springfield courts
The Illinois Supreme Court has let stand a partisan law, backed by Democrats, that blocks judges outside of Chicago and Springfield from hearing cases challenging the constitutionality of state laws. The court declined to use the ruling to end a rule limiting lawsuit 'forum shopping,' outcome sought by trial lawyers
Oak Park violated federal law in banning natgas in new homes, other buildings: Lawsuit
A group of labor unions, contractors, energy providers and industry associations sued the village of Oak Park, saying its ban on natural gas appliances in new construction violates federal law and denies its residents their rights to choice in how to power and heat their buildings
Counties ask judge to rope IL state govt, private 'tax buyers' into class action over property tax 'takings'
Suburban counties of DuPage, Lake, Will and Kane, along with three downstate counties, say they can't be forced to wear the blame and foot the bill for unconstitutional takings under a property tax system the state created and private investors are allowed to profit from
IL Sup Ct to decide if insurers can avoid covering companies hit with lawsuits over permitted emissions
A federal appeals panel has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to answer the murky legal question of whether insurers can use 'pollution exclusion' clauses to avoid paying legal defense costs for companies, like Sterigenics, hit with massive lawsuits over emissions that never broke any laws or regulations
New filing: 'Whistleblowers' can back fraud, racketeering claims vs Simmons, other asbestos lawsuit firms
L.A.-based pipemaker J-M Manufacturing wants to revive its lawsuit against Simmons Hanly Conroy and now other prominent asbestos plaintiff firms. J-M claims to have a raft of whistleblowers who can back their allegations that much of the multi-billion dollar asbestos litigation industry is allegedly a fraudulent racket
Activist groups seek to force $105K penalty vs Townstone, even though feds say case motivated by censorship
A group of progressive activist groups say a federal judge should block federal regulators from refunding a $105K fine under a deal with mortgage lender Townstone. The feds said Townstone was illegally targeted as punishment for expressing 'wrong-think' on the radio