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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Judge slaps restraining order on Cicero's try to force BNSF to pay steep sewer rate hike, says BNSF likely to win
A federal judge said it appeared BNSF Railway was poised to prevail in its claims Cicero officials violated federal law in targeting it with a massive sewer rate increase for BNSF's Cicero railyard. -
Class action: Salvation Army allegedly coerces free labor from participants in work-therapy adult rehab program
Lawsuit accuses the Salvation Army of using its adult rehabilitation programs to secure essentially free labor from people ordered into the program by the courts or who opted into the program out of need, allegedly in violation of federal human trafficking law -
Class action accuses Liberty Mutual of discriminating vs Black, Latino LGBTQ policy holders
A new class action lawsuit filed by an Evanston female queer Black and Latino couple asserts Liberty Mutual Insurance engages in a pattern of discrimination when processing claims submitted by LGBTQ racial minorities. -
Ex-Highland Park asst HS principal tries to continue suit vs D113 over alleged retaliation for aiding investigation
Amy Burnetti, a former Highland Park High School assistant principal, claims she was demoted as part of a campaign of alleged retaliation for her role in helping bring in Lake County prosecutors to investigate past alleged misdeeds by former HPHS administrators -
Blood plasma biz Octapharma agrees to pay $10M to end class action over plasma donor fingerprint scans
Under the deal, donors could receive anywhere from $85 to $800 each, depending on how many people submit valid claims for a cut of the settlement fund. Lawyers could get $3.5 million. -
Republicans, Latino advocates file proposed map to 'correct constitutional defects' of Dems' state districts
The proposed new map, filed with federal judges, would nearly triple the number of majority Latino state House and Senate districts, compared to plan approved by Democrats and signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in September -
Wrongfully imprisoned man can't sue city of Chicago after getting $7.6M from earlier suit vs Chicago cops
A judge has refused to let a man wrongfully imprisoned a quarter century, who already successfully sued Chicago police, now sue the city of Chicago, saying the city already compensated the man when it paid a $7.6 million judgment against the officers. -
Judge: Paramedics who posted pics to Snapchat of man who lost arm in fireworks mishap didn't violate his rights
Cicero man sued the town of Cicero and two paramedics, who posted the pics with the caption "Feeling blessed." -
Chicago cop says superior officers wrongly accessed his private info, retaliated against him for complaining
A Chicago narcotics officer says a sergeant and lieutenant used the Accurint service to glean some of his personal information online, and then retaliated after he allegedly refused to help cover it up and reported it to Internal Affairs. -
Teacher seeks to keep up lawsuit claiming Evanston elementary schools are racially hostile to white people
An Evanston middle school teacher has fired back vs an attempt by Evanston/Skokie District 65 to dismiss her lawsuit, which claims anti-racism programs in the district turned the schools into a racially discriminatory hostile work environment targeting white people. -
SCOTUS refuses school workers' claims unions unconstitutionally took dues after they tried to leave
Two Chicago teachers and a Moline custodian claimed their unions ignored the Supreme Court and the Constitution by limiting their ability to leave the union only to one "escape period" each year. -
Vending machine operator Compass Group to pay $6.8M to settle fingerprint scan class action
Lawyers who brought the consequential class action under the Illinois biometrics law will seek at least $2.2M from the deal. -
Judge blocks NorthShore from firing workers seeking religious exemption from COVID vax mandate
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against NorthShore University Health System, preventing the hospital system from firing dozens of workers seeking religious exemptions under federal and state law from NorthShore's rule requiring them to get the COVID vaccine, or face termination. -
Lawyers ask judge to OK $68M fees for work landing $181M chicken price class action settlement
It remains unclear how much consumers might get as a share of $111 million remaining in the settlement funds after lawyers and settlement administrators are paid. -
Lawsuit claims NorthShore Health System using vax mandate to "purge" unvaccinated religious objectors from payroll
A class action lawsuit in federal court claims NorthShore is illegally discriminating against religious employees who object to COVID vaccines, violating their rights to religious exemptions under state and federal law. -
Metra says judge was off track in ruling Union Pacific can cease northwest suburban Chicago commuter trains
Metra wants to derail a judge's ruling that Union Pacific does not have to run commuter lines in northwest Chicago, arguing the judge committed a "manifest injustice" in refusing to consider the railroad was contractually obligated to keep operating the service. -
Chicago firefighters sue to block Lightfoot, Pritzker COVID vax mandates
A group of Chicago firefighters have filed suit in federal court, arguing COVID vaccine mandates imposed by Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot are unconstitutional. -
Judges: Democrats' June state district maps unconstitutional; New September maps still under review
A panel of federal judges said Democrats' decision to use "population estimates," rather than Census data resulted in unbalanced districts, under a plan rushed through simply to retain firm grip on power -
Union Pacific: Railroad workers illegally threatening to strike over Biden vax mandates
Union Pacific, one of the country's largest rail carriers, has asked a judge to declare at least one union cannot strike against the company as it seeks to enforce President Biden's worker vaccine mandate. -
Judge permits narrowed class action accusing State Farm of presuming Black clients claims were fraud
The owner of a building on Chicago's South Side said State Farm illegally presumed his claims, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, were fraudulent.