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Stories by Jonathan Bilyk on Cook County Record

COOK COUNTY RECORD

Sunday, April 20, 2025

Jonathan Bilyk News


No injury, no barriers? IL Sup Ct to decide if 'no-injury' standard for big money biometrics lawsuits applies to other laws, too

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Walgreens has won the chance to ask the state high court to decide if plaintiffs' lawyers can press big money class actions in Illinois state courts under a federal identity protection law, despite no harm caused by a technical violation of the law, and despite rulings across the country that they can't do so

Judge: U of I doesn't formally sell Chief Illiniwek gear, but doesn't mean anyone else can without risking lawsuit

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal judge declared a decision by the University of Illinois to license its banned Chief logo to the College Vault allows the university to plausibly claim it hasn't "abandoned" the trademark

Settlement ends court fight over claims River North landlord kicked out journalist to retaliate for news stories

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Journalist Steven Dahlman had accused his ex-landlord of illegally refusing to renew his lease for a condo in Marina City because he had written articles critical of the business dealings of the husband of Marina City's condo association board president

Appeals panel tosses $18M verdict vs shipping broker; Trucker who struck teen in 2016 didn't work for them

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals panel says a Cook County judge was wrong to allow a verdict against Alliance Shippers to stand when the evidence was clear the broker couldn't be considered the employer or agent of a truck driver who struck and severely injured a 17-year-old on the side of I-394 near Sauk Village

Judge: Lawsuits vs Smith & Wesson over Highland Park massacre belong in Lake County, not federal court

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal judge rejected Smith & Wesson's claims the lawsuits vs the gun maker represent an attempt by anti-gun activists to sidestep federal law and restrict Second Amendment rights

BNSF, truck drivers in apparent deal to end biometrics court fight worth hundreds of millions of dollars

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A judge had tossed out a $228M verdict vs BNSF Railway in July in a long-running court battle over claims BNSF had wrongly required truck drivers to scan hand prints when entering secure rail yards in Illinois

Lawsuit says White Sox discriminate by making it hard to buy wheelchair accessible seats online

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The class action lawsuit, filed by a wheelchair user and a man with limited mobility who uses a motorized scooter, accuses the Chicago White Sox of not allowing people to select and purchase accessible seats online as easily as the team does for standard tickets

CTA retirees poised to get $53M to end class action over constitutional protections for health care benefits

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Lawyers who represented a group of about 6,350 retired workers from the Chicago Transit Authority are poised to collect about $26.7M in the lawsuit over whether the CTA was allowed to make retirees pay a portion of their health insurance costs

Red light camera execs from SafeSpeed sue ex-partner Maani, say they didn't know about IL bribes

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Two top executives at AllTech Tracking, the red light camera company formerly known as SafeSpeed, are asking a Cook County judge to order former SafeSpeed co-founder Omar Maani to pay at least $25M to reimburse the company for damage caused by the red light camera bribery scandal

Judge: CTA may have violated worker's rights by firing him after denying religious exemption from Covid vax

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal judge said the Chicago Transit Authority may yet need to provide explanation for denying a fired devout Catholic electrician's application for a religious exemption from the agency's Covid-19 vaccine mandate

Chicago sues Kia, Hyundai over 'Kia Boyz' thefts, says automakers must shoulder blame, pay up

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Facing a plague of surging and ever-rising auto thefts, the city of Chicago has partnered with class action firm Edelson to seek potentially massive payday from Kia and Hyundai, saying the automakers' refusal to install certain anti-theft devices in cars from 2011-2022 led to viral video-driven theft scourge

Investment firm accuses Perkins Coie of helping money manager allegedly siphon $12M

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Investment company S-R Investments alleges lawyers from the Perkins Coie firm allegedly aided money management firm Stevard's allegedly improper withdrawal of disputed funds, allegedly without proper authorization

Appeals panel agrees Cook County can't resurrect lending discrimination suit vs Bank of America

By Jonathan Bilyk |
County sought to hold financial institutions liable for role in rash of defaulted home loans and extra expenses suffered by the county to deal with the fallout amid the Great Recession in 2008-09

IL Supreme Court upholds 'assault weapons' ban; Decision does not address 2nd Amend claims

By Jonathan Bilyk |
In seeming 4-3 decision, court's majority says gun ban doesn't violate equal protection rights. Dissents divided, as Pritzker-backed justice says the law wrongly allows cops to keep gun rights, and conservatives say lawmakers unconstitutionally OK'd the law

Lawsuit: Dolton mayor accused of withholding liquor licenses over campaign donations to mayor

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The lawsuit from video gaming chain Lacey's Place says scandal-plagued Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard is using a "tax audit" as cover for a scheme to withhold liquor license renewals from companies that did not donate to her campaign

Judge ends ex-Palatine HS teacher's suit vs activist she claims got her fired over anti-BLM statements

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A Cook County judge said Township High School District 211 fired the teacher for "her own conduct," so she can't sue the activist and current D211 board member she says targeted her for posting comments on Facebook critical of anti-racism protests in 2020

Workers' comp law blocks mother's try to sue Arby's restaurant owner over son's on-the-job murder

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals court said the mother didn't present enough evidence to back her claims the incident in which a co-worker stabbed her son to death while working the drive thru late night shift was not work related

UPS Store can face class action for allegedly overcharging customers for notary services

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals panel revived claims UPS Store conspired with its franchisees to sidestep $1 limit set by state law for notary fee

'Stupid and unconstitutional:' Raoul blocked by federal judge from enforcing IL abortion 'misinformation' law

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A Rockford federal judge granted a preliminary injunction sought by pro-life groups and so-called crisis pregnancy centers, who said Illinois, under Gov. JB Pritkzer and Attorney General Kwame Raoul, was attempting to use the new law to silence abortion opponents unconstitutionally

IL appeals panel ends lawsuit in which Pritzker accused of helping friend defraud state

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals court in Springfield says Attorney General Raoul within his power to pull plug on suit, despite political implications against Gov. JB Prtizker