U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Recent News About U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
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Cook Circuit Clerk appeals ruling ordering her to provide immediate public access to e-filed lawsuits
With just days to spare before her office would need to comply with a federal judge’s order to begin providing the public and the press immediate access to electronically filed lawsuits, the clerk of Cook County’s courts has appealed the ruling. -
Appeals court upholds Chicago Heights ward map, says objectors can't present counter map
A federal appellate court ruled that the city of Chicago Heights set proper boundaries when it redrew aldermanic ward maps, agreeing with a lower court that the map’s opponents, who alleged the city’s map violated a court decree addressing racial discrimination, do not have authority to submit their own alternative map for the court’s consideration. -
Plaintiff: Baking company Aryzta owes dough for clunky fight over locale for lawsuit over worker fingerprints
The plaintiff in a putative class action suit accusing the bakery company which puts out the Otis Spunkmeyer and La Brea Bakery brands of violating an Illinois biometric privacy law by not telling workers how their fingerprints were handled, is now claiming the company is refusing to pay a portion of the plaintiff's legal costs, as ordered by a federal judge. -
Mom's T-Mobile contract terms can't force arbitration for son's class action vs Subway over text message ad
A federal appeals panel has reactivated a man’s class action lawsuit against sandwich seller Subway, saying the restaurant chain can’t invoke T-Mobile’s contract to force to arbitration the man’s claims Subway broke federal telecommunications law by sending text messages to T-Mobile users advertising “T-Mobile Tuesday” sandwich deals. -
New EEOC sexual harassment guidelines due this year are needed to provide clarity, attorneys say
New federal sexual harassment guidelines coming from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before the end of this year had been planned before a recent spate of media publicity over alleged sexual abuse cases, including some involving celebrities. -
Attorney: Seventh Circuit's decision to OK AmEx settlement giving lawyers more than class members an 'eye-opener'
A decision by a federal appeals court to uphold a settlement awarding attorneys more in fees than was paid to class members in total should serve as an "eye-opener" for the public and businesses concerning the nature of class action litigation in U.S. courts, said a local attorney who defends employers against such suits. -
Petition: SCOTUS should undo rulings letting union keep $32M collected from caregivers unconstitutionally
Saying a union’s unconstitutional seizure of $32 million in fees from non-union home care providers via the state of Illinois was legally not much different than picking a pocket on the street, a group of those personal assistants have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and overturn lower courts’ decisions allowing the union to keep the money, even the high court had determined the union had no right to collect the money in the first place. -
Judge: Cook County courts clerk must give immediate public, press access to e-filed lawsuits
A Chicago federal judge has told the Cook County Circuit Clerk’s office it cannot withhold electronically filed lawsuits from public view for days at a time pending administrative processing because, to do so, violates the right of the press and the public under the First Amendment to immediate access to otherwise public documents. -
Appeals court: State rep can't force Calumet City to give him the chance to run for mayor
The April mayoral election in Calumet City was valid and will not be restaged, a state appeals court has ruled, determining the voters of the city had a valid interest in denying a state representative and anyone else who has served four terms in any city elected office the chance to run for mayor. -
Judges: Discontented developer should have delivered documents to ex-partners in Ritz-Carlton Residences suit
A Chicago federal appellate court has upheld the dismissal of a suit brought by one of the developers of Chicago's Ritz-Carlton skyscraper, who alleged his onetime partners cut him out of the profits, saying the disgruntled developer's failure to turn over financial records to his ex-partners for their defense preparation justified razing his case. -
Classifieds site Backpage alleges Cook County Sheriff 'lied' to hide documents in sex trafficking injunction case
Online classifieds site Backpage.com is alleging in federal court that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, in his effort to shut down the site on grounds it facilitates sex trafficking, wrongly withheld thousands of discovery documents from Backpage, fraudulently claiming the documents were confidential, because they were the product of an attorney-client relationship. -
After appeal, Hyatt awarded $8.3 million in franchise agreement dispute
A Chicago federal appeals panel has ruled hotel chain Hyatt is due $8.3 million in a dispute over a franchise agreement gone bad. -
Volvo can't escape class action suit due to alleged false marketing over range of hybrid SUV
A federal judge has ruled that a couple who were upset over their hybrid Volvo’s ability to hold a charge have legitimate claims against Volvo, turning aside the automaker's attempt to again pull the plug on the couple's class action lawsuit. -
Appeals court upholds 'flawed' AmEx gift cards class action settlement, giving plaintiffs' lawyers $1.95M
While they called the deal flawed, a federal appeals panel in Chicago nevertheless has upheld a settlement ending a class action lawsuit against American Express over gift cards, dividing $1.8 million among class members, and giving plaintiffs' lawyers $1.95 million more. -
Appeals panel grants win to Expedia, other travel websites in fight with cities over hotel taxes
In a legal battle between 13 Illinois cities and 13 travel websites over hotel taxes, federal judges in Chicago have now ruled against all 13 municipalities, after a federal appeals court overturned a federal district judge’s decision to allow suburban Lombard alone to continue exacting taxes from Expedia and other online travel agencies. -
7th Circuit: Won't rehear EEOC appeal of dismissal of case alleging Autozone racially zoned store workers
A federal appeals court has refused to grant federal employment discrimination regulators the chance to renew their arguments that Autozone’s transfer of a black employee from a store serving a predominantly Hispanic clientele to another in a predominantly African-American neighborhood, should be considered illegal racial discrimination and segregation, even though the transferred worker suffered no loss of income, responsibilities or job opportunities. -
Seventh Circuit: Defendants can use plaintiffs own estimate of class size to take class action to federal court
A recent federal appellate court decision has shed some light on how courts may interpret a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on class action damages, and whether defendants can use plaintiffs own class size estimates to transfer a case from state court to federal jurisdiction. -
Judge: Fundraising robocalls for Breast Cancer Society OK under federal law; plaintiffs appeal
A fundraising and marketing company has been let off the hook in a class action lawsuit after a federal judge said its work on behalf of a breast cancer research charity meant it couldn't be made to pay for allegedly violating a federal telemarketing law. However, plaintiffs are appealing that decision. -
Class action: Floor and Decor sells tiles that don't measure up; mimics lumber suits vs Home Depot, Menards
In the wake of attempted class action lawsuits aimed at Home Depot and Menards over the size of lumber pieces they sell, Floor and Decor has become the latest class action target, as a new lawsuit claims they sell ceramic and glass tiles that allegedly don’t quite measure up to the dimensions listed on the tag and packaging. -
Supreme Court refuses to hear home care providers' lawsuit vs SEIU over compelled representation
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a group of Illinois child care providers and in-home care assistants for those with disabilities the chance to argue their constitutional rights were violated by an Illinois state law forcing the care providers to accept the Service Employees International Union as their bargaining representative.