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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EEOC issues rules on employee wellness programs, even as court fights rage over its take on the law
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued regulations last month about what employers can and cannot do to encourage or even require employee participation in employer-sponsored wellness programs, while still complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act (GINA).But those new rules have come amid pitched legal battles over whether the commission’s interpretation of those law is even correct. -
Seventh Circuit says employers can't force workers to sign away rights to sue over OT, other wage claims
Employers can still ask employees to sign contracts sending disputes over overtime or other wage and hour issues to arbitration, bypassing the courts. But a federal appeals panel in Chicago said any attempts to force employees to sign such agreements as a condition of employment violates federal law, leaving such contracts unenforceable. -
7th Circuit: City's peddling rules may ban Cubs vendors, as well as magazine sellers, outside Wrigley
The publishers of a baseball magazine still haven’t connected in their fight for the right to sell their product on the sidewalk outside of Chicago’s Wrigley Field.But a federal appeals panel said arguments raised by Left Field Media did deliver a strike in questioning why even the Chicago Cubs organization itself should be allowed under the city’s rules to sell things on the sidewalks outside the Friendly Confines. -
State can force IL child care, home care workers to be represented by union, federal judge says
While the U.S. Supreme Court declared two years ago that the state cannot compel independent home care and child care workers from paying money to public employees unions out of the checks they receive for their work from the state, a Chicago federal judge said the Constitution does not similarly forbid the state from requiring those same workers to be represented by a union. -
Judge hauls away OT pay class action brought by tow truck drivers vs Chicago wrecker company
A Chicago federal judge has put the brakes on an attempt by a group of tow truck drivers to collect overtime pay they claimed they were owed under federal law from a Chicago tow operator. -
Scrollable window trips up credit reporting bureau in lawsuit over arbitration; other businesses should take note
A recent federal appeals court ruling should prompt businesses who post digital contracts online to review their documents and policies, including how the digital contracts are displayed and how potential customers are notified of arbitration provisions, among others. -
Judge awards $458K more to attorneys already paid $1.6 million for class action vs Southwest over flight drink vouchers
After beating back an appeal of the settlement agreement that granted them more than $1.6 million in fees, the attorneys who represented a group of people who brought a class action against Southwest Airlines for refusing to honor drink vouchers will not get all the additional fees they requested for their work on the appeal. -
Federal appeals court: PF Chang's can be sued over potential ID theft from data breach
A Chicago federal appeals panel has given the P.F. Chang’s restaurant chain a case of legal indigestion, by reversing a district court’s dismissal of a class action suit brought by two diners, who claimed they were vulnerable to identity theft, because the chain’s allegedly poor data security allowed hackers to obtain diners’ debit and credit card information. -
Doctor waited too long to sue IL, Cook County officials he said wrongly yanked his license over patient death, judge says
A doctor’s federal lawsuit against Cook County and state medical authorities, which contends they conspired to wrongly yank his medical license almost 20 years ago for allegedly killing a terminally ill patient, has been dismissed, because it was filed years too late and some of its claims belong in state court. -
Fired or not? 7th Circuit, NLRB side with worker who believed she was canned when boss sent her home
Employers can still send unruly or insubordinate employees home as part of the disciplinary process. But after a recent decision by Chicago's federal appeals court in support of the National Labor Relations Board, they may want to take a look at how supervisors carry out employee discipline, how they communicate the terms of that discipline, and make sure employees clearly understand if they've been fired or they're still expected back on the job at some point. -
Appeals panel puts debt collector back on hook for class action over potentially illegal lawsuits
A man who claimed someone had fraudulently run up more than $2,500 in debt on a credit card opened in his name without his knowledge has secured another chance to press a lawsuit against a suburban debt collection agency, after a state appeals panel found the agency may have broken federal debt collection laws by suing the man over the contested debt after the statute of limitations had expired. -
General Mediterranean Holding says attorney missteps led to $18 million verdict in lawsuit over Rezko South Loop deal
An international real estate development group stung last year by a multi-million dollar jury award to a fellow investor who claimed the group cheated him out of millions in an allegedly underhanded deal with corrupt Illinois campaign financier Tony Rezko has itself filed suit against its former attorney, claiming missteps by the lawyer cost the group $18 million. -
Federal judge OKs 'least bad option' settlement deal to end class action over American Express gift cards
Thousands who had American Express gift cards could be in for a bit of money, after a federal judge signed off on a settlement agreement to end a class action over claims American Express had misled card holders. Lawyers were poised for a lesser payday than they had requested, as the judge adjusted down their fee request to be more in line with the total settlement. -
Judges disagree if county can sue, but appeal won't slow Cook's predatory lending suit vs HSBC
A Chicago federal judge will not slow down Cook County’s predatory lawsuit against HSBC, denying a request from HSBC to place the county’s legal action on hold to allow a federal appeals court to iron out differing opinions among local federal judges as to whether the county actually has standing under federal law to sue HSBC and other banks over allegations the banks discriminated against borrowers based on race and worsened local housing markets. -
7th Circuit says gambling losers can't use IL law to sue online poker sites to recoup losses
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago has upheld lower court rulings, saying it’s a bad bet to try to use Illinois state law to recoup gambling losses from the hosts, rather than the winners, of online poker games. -
Motel operators ask U.S. Supreme Court to mow down amounts Chicago can fine for violations of city weed ordinance
Attorneys for a Skokie motel corporation are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to establish the formula for courts to use in determining whether state and local fines are over the top, as they challenge federal court dismissals of their lawsuit alleging fines charged by the city of Chicago under its weed ordinance are excessive under the U.S. Constitution. -
Amazon can use rejected settlement offer to fight background check class action, judge says
A Chicago federal judge has ruled a plaintiff, who is leading a putative class action suit against Amazon for allegedly rejecting his job application after a background check turned up what the plaintiff said is a bogus report of a drug conviction, can’t stop the online retailer from using the plaintiff’s decision to reject a settlement offer as a defense to ward off the class action suit. -
Seventh Circuit: Dart violated rights in coercing vendors to stop doing business with Backpage.com
A federal appeals panel handed Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart a stinging defeat, saying the county’s chief law enforcement officer had trampled the free speech rights of the owners of the country’s second-largest provider of online classified advertising space when he and his office moved to stem funding to and potentially put the site out of business over concerns the site was used to facilitate prostitution and sex trafficking. -
Seventh Circuit orders Dart to back off Backpage.com, pending appeal of injunction denial
A federal appeals court has ordered Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart to stop efforts to financially squeeze online classifieds site Backpage.com, which the sheriff says is used to facilitate sex trafficking, until the court can decide whether or not it will let stand a lower court’s decision to allow Dart’s office to continue its campaign against the website. -
Lawyer tries to revive class action vs Palatine over personal information on parking tickets
A Chicago attorney is taking another shot at bringing a class action against a northwest suburban village over claims it includes too much personal information on the parking tickets it issues, arguing that, while federal courts rejected an earlier suit he argued over the ticket received by one particular man, the courts never formally dealt with his class allegations that the village's practices violated privacy rights of potentially thousands of others.