Jonathan Bilyk News
Class action: Big companies buying up mobile home parks, driving up rents, pricing out seniors
A new lawsuit accuses some of the largest owners and operators of manufactured home communities of violating federal antitrust laws by conspiring on setting rents
Appeals panel: Changes to IL Conscience law allow employers to force workers to choose between Covid jab and their jobs
A state appeals court agreed that Advocate Health can fire workers who refuse to get a Covid vaccine, because Gov. JB Pritzker and state lawmakers in Springfield changed Illinois' Right of Conscience law specifically to remove protections for religious objectors to Covid vaccine mandates
Koch, HRF agree to pay $75M to settle supermarkets' chicken price fixing suits
Deals mean chicken producers have collectively paid $284 million so far to settle lawsuits brought by supermarkets and other so-called "direct purchasers," claiming they conspired to artificially boost chicken prices. Lawyers are generally claiming about one-third of the payouts.
Appeals court rejects bid by Republican to overturn 2020 judge election he claims was stolen
Park Ridge Republican lawyer Frank DiFranco has claimed Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough used then-novel Vote By Mail rules to cheat in counting votes to allow a Democrat and former Yarbrough staffer to eke out a win in the northwest suburban judicial race
Appeals panel: Employers don't owe OT for 'incidental' work if workers don't record the hours
A federal appeals court tossed out a jury verdict that had ordered ATM maker NCR to pay a field tech more than $250,000 for allegedly unpaid OT performed off the clock
No injury, no barriers? IL Sup Ct to decide if 'no-injury' standard for big money biometrics lawsuits applies to other laws, too
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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