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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'Astronomical damages:' IL high court ponders how many fingerprints should be worth up to $5K each under IL biometrics law
With potentially billions of dollars on the line, justices on the state high court must answer the question of how many repeated scans of fingerprints and other biometric data should cost Illinois employers $1,000-$5,000 each under the state's stringent Biometric Information Privacy Act -
Judge puts brakes on $110M jury award in legal fight between tire manufacturers Toyo, Atturo; Toyo to appeal
A Chicago federal judge preserved $10 million in compensatory damages for company that said it lost business following competitors' disparaging remarks -
Appeals panel rules schools not automatically liable under federal civil rights law when school workers sexually abuse students
The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, en banc, that a Madison, Wisconsin, school district can't be sued for the sexual abuse of a middle school girl because the school's principal wasn't specifically aware of the abuse, but took action to address concerns of a school security guard's "grooming" actions -
Unvaxxed lawyer OK to argue before Seventh Circuit in religious liberty case: Judges
A federal appeals court in Chicago gave prominent religious liberty lawyer Luke Goodrich permission to argue in court, despite not having received a Covid shot. The plaintiffs representing a woman suing a Catholic Archdiocese for discrimination had objected -
Appeals panel says states can make lawyers join the bar based on 'undermined' law, but SCOTUS might say 'no'
A Chicago federal appeals court has ruled it is constitutional for Wisconsin to make lawyers belong to the state bar association, despite a lawyer's contention his dues back political causes he does not support -
Judge: Scans of photos can equal facial recognition, may be barred by IL biometrics law; Suit vs Onfido continues
Illinois man alleges Onfido didn't adequately inform about use of photographs, facial scans -
Appeals panel: Owners of vehicles impounded for unpaid Chicago tickets can protect cars under bankruptcy proceedings
City can tow and keep cars only after obtaining 'final determinations of liability,' a judicial process, meaning the city can't just keep the cars of people who owe large amounts of unpaid parking and traffic tickets, and filed for bankruptcy protection -
Appeals panel reinstates lawsuit vs Fiat Chrysler over airbag failure in rollover crash
Front airbag failed to deploy in a Chrysler vehicle in a 2015 rollover in western Illinois. An expert testified the vehicle was traveling fast enough to trip system, but a judge ruled in favor of Fiat Chrysler. -
Judge reprimands feds, says Obama-era bad-faith actions in case vs Kraft 'troubling for future' settlement talks
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission violated a confidentiality provision in its settlement with Kraft and Mondelez to end a regulatory action over alleged wheat market manipulation, to score political PR points. The agency says its commissioners aren't bound by any such deals -
Reform watchdog: Fed court can look into state's hiring of unqualified COVID lab techs, contrary to Pritzker's claim
A state hiring watchdog is contending he has not conceded, as "misconstrued" by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, that two dozen allegedly unqualified temporary lab techs hired to help with Covid-19 tests, are outside the watchdog's federal mandate because they were hired off the street rather than promoted from within government. -
Judge shoots down class action vs Northrop Grumman over alleged underpaid severance for laid off workers
The plaintiffs, who had worked for a Northrop Grumman subsidiary, had argued they should have been entitled by federal law to more severance than they received -
Judge trims Chicago car impound class action, but city still faces suit for selling 'abandoned' cars to tow companies
A federal judge said the city must still answer claims it violated car owners' constitutional property rights by towing "abandoned" cars, and then allegedly sold them to tow companies, often for scrap, before the owners had enough time to retrieve them. -
Appeals panel agrees auto insurers not forced by law to cover tax and title fees when replacing totaled cars
Policyholders must formally request reimbursement, otherwise insurers may just cover cash value of new car -
Appeals panel says arbitrator will decide if minor can sign contract, lead IL biometrics class action vs Snapchat
Snapchat facing class action over user face scans led by a minor, whose lawyers are trying to keep the dispute in court, and out of arbitration -
Appeals panel: State Farm has no obligation to cover restaurant's losses from Pritzker's COVID closure orders
While the restaurant only closed because the governor ordered them to do so, it was the COVID-19 virus that actually caused the losses, so the steep losses the businesses suffered aren't physical losses covered by insurance policies, state appeals judges ruled -
Maker of Dude Wipes can't use disclaimer to fully flush class action over alleged sewer damage
Plaintiffs alleged hygiene product caused plumbing problems at home -
Lawyer for Chicago city workers: Courts must address overreach in Lightfoot, Pritzker job or jab COVID vax mandates
In an appellate brief, the workers argued their rights to privacy and bodily autonomy to refuse a vaccine of questionable effectiveness, should be upheld under the same reasoning used by the U.S. Supreme Court to declare a constiutional right to abortion. -
Federal judge tosses lawsuit challenging Chicago's COVID vax passport order
A lawyer claimed the city's vaccine orders violated his constitutional rights and his contractual rights as a season ticket holder for the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks, because he was blocked from using the tickets he had purchased at the beginning of the season, months before the vaccine order was issued. -
Pritzker fighting to lift federal monitoring for political patronage hiring, system used by Madigan to boost power
Even as he talked with investigators in the federal prosecution that led to the indictment of former House Speaker Michael Madigan, Gov. JB Pritzker has been fighting to lift federal oversight of state hiring practices, a system exploited by Madigan to cement his grip on power statewide -
Union workers' biometrics claims belong in arbitration, not in class actions, because of CBA: Appeals panel
A Cook County judge had ruled workers' claims over fingerprint scans were separate from their union contract. But a state appeals panel said they would not break with a decision set by a federal appeals court on the question.