U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Recent News About U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
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Federal appeals court rules GE doesn't have to remove polluted soil where Morrison factory stood
A Chicago federal appellate panel has upheld a lower court ruling that said owners of land contaminated by chemicals from a General Electric plant in northwestern Illinois cannot force the company to remove the polluted soil, because the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is only calling for GE to contain the contamination. -
Judge: Illinois, DuPage lawsuit seeking court-ordered shutdown of Sterigenics doesn't belong in federal court
A federal judge has sent back to DuPage County court a lawsuit filed by the state against medical device sterilization company Sterigenics over alleged emissions from its plant in suburban Willowbrook, saying the state can press its pollution claims in state court against the company in large part because the state has not accused the company of violating any defined air quality standards. -
Exelon, staffing companies accused of shorting specialized contractors OT pay
Specialists once employed by Exelon are suing the Chicago-headquartered power provider and three staffing companies in federal court, alleging defendants short-circuited labor law by withholding overtime pay. -
Union lawsuit claiming right to not represent non-union members could upset public labor relations: Attorney
A labor union has won the right to move forward with a unique challenge that emerged in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year on whether non-union workers should pay fair share fees for representation. If it succeeds, the lawsuit could upset management-labor relations for government employers, a labor lawyer says. -
Southwest Airlines workers: Class action over fingerprint scans not subject to union deal interpretation
Lawyers for a group of Southwest Airlines employees have asked a federal appeals court to find a Chicago federal judge was wrong to toss their class action accusing the airline of violating their rights under a state’s biometrics privacy law, as the plaintiffs said their union contract doesn’t negate the airline’s alleged liability under the state law. -
Judge: Social media IDs too murky to let class action continue vs Groupon over Instagram photos
A Chicago federal judge has refused to grant class action status to a woman's lawsuit against Chicago-based Groupon, which alleged the e-commerce provider has wrongly used Instagram photos to promote its deals for restaurants and other businesses, saying there are too many individualized claims for a class action to be practical. -
New filing offers more details about ex-Madigan staffer's alleged blackballing that followed harassment complaint
The woman who has claimed Democrats in Illinois and Chicago, led by House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, blackballed her in retaliation for complaining of sexual harassment at the hands of a Madigan operative, has provided further details to her claims, naming names of prominent Chicago Democrats who declined to hire her out of fear of further retribution from Madigan’s team. -
Subway not on the hook for T-Mobile promo texts offering free sandwiches, judge says
A T-Mobile customer can’t make fast food sandwich chain Subway pay up for a promotional text message sent by the wireless carrier offering its customers free sandwiches as a reward for being a T-Mobile user, a federal judge has ruled. -
Class action: Chicago trying to use parking tickets to offset losses from 2008 sale of meters on backs of poor
A class action lawsuit has accused the city of Chicago of essentially recouping its losses from the sale of its parking meters from the pockets of low-income city residents and others dinged with parking tickets, fines and fees they called unconstitutionally excessive. -
Youth hockey club antitrust suit: AHAI wrongly blocks out 'challenger' clubs from top tier spots
For the second time in recent months the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois is the defendant in a federal antitrust lawsuit, as a club claims the AHAI has essentially conspired with four clubs to block others out of top-tier charter status. -
Appeals court: Wilmette cops didn't violate rights of man they warned over taking photos of condo neighbors
The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals scuttled a lawsuit from a man who said the village of Wilmette violated his constitutional rights by asking him to stop tracking his neighbors’ activities to prove they were violating condo association rules. -
Appeals panel: CPS worker doesn't need to prove work environment 'hellish' to press discrimination suit
A federal appeals panel in Chicago has revived a man's racial discrimination lawsuit against the Chicago Public Schools, saying the man doesn't need to demonstrate his workplace was "hellish" to accuse his supervisor of discrimination. -
Justice Dept: Class action deal should crumble; Serves only to pay lawyers, promote Lenny & Larry's cookies
The federal government has asked a federal judge to crumble a deal to end a false labeling class action lawsuit against Lenny & Larry’s, the makers of high-protein cookies, saying the settlement is far too lopsided, as it leaves attorneys with more than $1 million and consumers with perhaps a few crumbs, should they be lucky enough to land a cut of $3 million worth of free cookies. -
Judge says ex-Broadview mayor can't be sued for allegedly bad mouthing planned strip club while in office
A Chicago federal judge has stripped a former Broadview mayor from a suit by a group, which wants to open an adults-only club in the west suburban village, saying the group failed to prove the then-mayor did not enjoy the immunity of a public official in denouncing the proposed establishment. -
Sterigenics: IL EPA shut-down order oversteps the law; Asks federal court to block 'extralegal' action
Calling the action an attempt to sidestep the courts and the law, Sterigenics has filed suit against the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, asking a federal judge to remove the order the state agency slapped on late last Friday, effectively shuttering Sterigenics’ Willowbrook plant. -
Judge: Legal fight can continue over whether to build Obama Center in Jackson Park
While stressing the ruling has nothing to do with the question of which side will ultimately win the fight over whether the Obama Presidential Center will be built in Jackson Park, a federal judge will allow that fight to continue to play out in court. -
Judge pulls plug on ex-students' class action vs DeVry over graduate job placement claims
CHICAGO — A federal judge has again dismissed a class action that former DeVry University students brought against the school. -
Could Pritzker order Sterigenics Willowbrook closed? Perhaps, but powers may be limited
As Illinois' attorney general spars in federal court with a company accused of emitting too much of an alleged cancer-causing chemical into the atmosphere in Chicago's western suburbs, others are calling on Illinois' new governor to do more, and immediately order the facility to close. -
Freeborn Growth Fuels Major Trial Successes for Clients in 2018, Further Establishes Firm as Litigation Powerhouse®
Freeborn & Peters LLP is pleased to announce that it heads into 2019 continuing to expand its brand as a Litigation Powerhouse® with major trial victories and growth in litigation capabilities and geographical reach during the past year that rival many Am Law 100 firms in the nation. -
Bandas banishment prompts try to box out other objectors from plagued Pella Windows class action deal
Seizing on a federal judge’s order barring “serial” class action settlement objector Christopher Bandas from further objecting to class action settlements, a group of lawyers seeking to cash in on a sizable settlement in a controversy-plagued class action against Pella Windows have asked a federal judge to box out other objectors from collecting off their deal, because Bandas had been among those objectors.