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Stories by Jonathan Bilyk on Cook County Record

COOK COUNTY RECORD

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Jonathan Bilyk News


Sterigenics plaintiffs ask IL Supreme Court to step in to upend Cook judge's rulings

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The plaintiffs call Cook County judge's decisions 'absurd and antithetical to ... prompt justice,' and denial of their clients' rights to prompt trials

Yarbrough: Time for feds oversight of Cook Clerk's office to end; Court monitors focusing on details to keep getting paid

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Yarbrough says compliance administrators appointed by the court to ensure she obeys federal court decrees are trying to find reasons to keep those decrees in place to ensure they continue to get paid

Class action: T-Mobile, Sprint owe money to customers of AT&T, Verizon because merger raised cell phone costs

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The lawsuit asserted the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint violated antitrust laws and led only to higher prices for all telecom customers amid a less competitive marketplace.

IL Dems seek to defend vote by mail law; Dem voters will be 'disenfranchised' if votes not counted 2 weeks after Election Day

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A group of Republicans have sued the state, saying a state law requiring mail-in votes to be counted up to 14 days after Election Day, conflicts with federal law.

Sterigenics plaintiffs to ask IL Supreme Court to step into dispute over how looming trial will proceed

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Hundreds of lawsuits are pending, claiming EtO emissions from Sterigenics caused cancer in Willowbrook. The first trial is scheduled to begin next month

Lawsuit: Cook County sheriff, chief judge liable for woman's death at hand of man on electronic monitoring

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The lawsuit accuses Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans of placing accused violent criminal Dominiko Johnson on electronic home monitoring, but allowing him to travel to the home of girlfriend Shanate Guy, who he allegedly shot to death

Seventh Circuit Judge Michael Kanne dies; Served on federal appeals court for 35 years

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Kanne, regarded as a conservative originalist, was appointed to the court in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan

Cook County still collecting unconstitutional gun, ammo sales taxes; Refunds owed, class action says

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A new class action lawsuit is asking the courts to step in again and declare, once and for all, that Cook County has unconstitutionally levied taxes on the sale of firearms and ammunition, and give gun and ammo buyers refunds for taxes they've paid for nearly a decade

Laborer who fell through roof at former Cineplex Odeon reaches $4.8M deal to settle lawsuit

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The settlement was announced by the laborer's attorneys with the firm of Salvi Schostok & Pritchard

Reformers' filing: Cook Clerk Yarbrough 'dragging feet' on complying with fed court's anti-patronage orders

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Longtime Illinois government reform advocate Michael Shakman and others have asked a federal judge to tack at least another year onto federal oversight of hiring practices under Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough

IL Supreme Court to decide if unionized workers can sue employers over workplace fingerprint scans

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The state's high court has allowed an appeal from a worker at Roosevelt University, who is seeking to lead a class action lawsuit against his employer under Illinois' biometrics privacy law, but was blocked when a state appeals court said his union CBA meant he couldn't sue

How 'concrete' an injury is 'emotional distress?' Federal appeals court grapples with question

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A group of four federal appeals court judges says the Seventh Circuit was wrong to toss out a woman's class action claims that a creditor should pay for inflicting "emotional distress" when it sought to collect a "zombie debt"

Ex-secretary accuses University Park village manager, village officials of sex harassment

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The former secretary to University Park's village manager asserts she was subjected to an "onslaught" of sexual harassment from the fall of 2019 to June 2021

Lawsuit vs Skokie school district asks court to order IL school officials to enforce anti-racism policies, programs

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal judge has returned the lawsuit vs Skokie Fairview District 72 to Cook County court, where it has been amended to include allegations and demands against Illinois' state school superintendent

Hyatt keeps up effort to make timeclock vendor Kronos pay for its biometrics class action settlement

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The Hyatt hotel chain agreed in January to pay $1.1 million to settle a class action lawsuit over worker fingerprint scans. But the hotelier wants a judge to let it keep suing its timeclock supplier, who Hyatt says actually allegedly violated Illinois' biometrics privacy law

SCOTUS: Airline ramp workers exempt from arbitration mandates, more class actions vs transportation employers inbound?

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The U.S. Supreme Court says Southwest Airlines ramp workers are involved in interstate commerce, and should be given exemption under federal law from mandatory arbitration clauses in their employment contracts

Class action: Instant Pot makers didn't tell consumers cooker lids can open while under pressure, burn users

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A nationwide class action is seeking to compel the makers of the Instant Pot line of electric cookers to pay for allegedly failing to tell consumers about an alleged defect in the product that could cause users to get severely burned

Lawsuit: Cook County property tax appeal review board member illegally hired her cousin, refuses to fire him

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The Cook County Board of Ethics says Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Tammy Wendt hired her first cousin to a $150K per year job in violation of the county's hiring rules, and has refused to comply with orders to remove him

Class action: Advocate Aurora, debt collector tried to collect charged off debts

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The complaint asserts the large hospital and health care network and debt collector LJ Ross violated federal debt collection law and state consumer fraud law

Google Photos lawsuit administrators begin accepting claims for cut of $100M biometrics privacy class action settlement

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Illinois residents have a chance to claim up to $400 each from a $100 million settlement to be paid by Google to end a class action settlement over face scans in its Google Photos app. Google was sued under Illinois' strict biometrics privacy law