U.S. Supreme Court
Recent News About U.S. Supreme Court
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Judge: Supreme Court decision barring forced union fees doesn't rid unions of responsibility to represent all workers
Unions can’t use a recent anti-union Supreme Court decision to rid themselves of their responsibility under the law to represent all workers in a collective bargaining unit, whether or not those workers pay union dues, a federal judge has ruled. -
Appeals court: Supreme Court declared union fees unconstitutional, but union collected in 'good faith,' so no refunds
Illinois public worker unions get to keep unconstitutional fees, because they collected the fees in “good faith,” relying on “good luck” in having state law and a later-overturned Supreme Court decision on their side for 40 years. -
Judge: Fired female instructor's discrimination suit vs Moody barred by religious liberty questions
A federal judge has tossed discrimination claims brought by a fired female instructor at Moody Bible Institute, as the judge ruled the lawsuit was barred by Supreme Court decisions mostly shielding churches and religious schools from discrimination laws. -
MCGUIRREWOODS LLP: Hot Issues of the 2019-2020 U.S. Supreme Court Term
In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has addressed business issues that fundamentally affect how corporations operate, as well as cultural issues that have a lasting impact on the country as a whole. -
Federal judge axes much of lawsuit brought vs SEIU Local 73 by fired union employees
A Chicago federal judge has rejected allegations by a group of former SEIU Local 73 employees that they were illegally fired. -
Replay of anti-gerrymandering court win in N.C. not necessarily best option for IL reforms, policy advocate says
A state court in North Carolina has struck down a gerrymandered legislative district map, becomign the second state whose courts have used a provision also found in Illinois' state constitution to invalidate a district map favoring Republicans. -
Appeals court: Downers Grove rules limiting signs painted on buildings does not violate First Amendment
A Downers Grove storage and van company will not be allowed to keep its sign painted across the length of its building, a federal court affirmed Sept. 24 in finding a village sign ordinance does not violate the First Amendment. -
Should unions refund collected fees that were later declared unconstitutional? Appeals court to decide
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it is unconstitutional to require non-union state workers in Illinois to pay "fair share" fees to a union, but a Chicago federal appeals panel is considering whether a union must refund millions of dollars in fees already collected. -
'Political questions': Judges duck thorny IL constitutional issues, but how much free rein should IL pols have?
Judges in Illinois have allowed the state government and Cook County avoid challenges to their spending power under the state constitution. But should they have? -
Appeals panel finds Kane County jail guard not liable for detainee's escape, assaults at Delnor Hospital
Panel says guard might have been 'a feckless coward,' but immune to federal lawsuit -
Appeals panel hears arguments over whether Illinois campaign finance law creates 'unlevel playing field'
Illinois' campaign finance law may create an unlevel political spending playing field, giving one kind of political organization a built-in advantage. But a federal appeals panel appeared to harbor doubts over whether that makes the law unconstitutional. -
Illinois state lawyers: Janus decision didn't change unions' obligation to represent all workers in bargaining units
Unions aren't the same as state employees, so the holdings of the Supreme Court's Janus decision don't apply to them, Illinois state attorneys argue, asking judge to swat down a union's contention it no longer has an obligation under the Constitution to represent non-union workers. -
Seventh Circuit appeals court upholds Cook County assault weapons ban
A federal appeals panel has upheld Cook County’s assault weapons ban -
Pritzker contract gives AFSCME unfettered access to workers' private information
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker agreed to a deal with AFSCME Council 31 that threatens the privacy of state workers and violates workers’ rights. -
LOCKE LORD LLP: Chicago Partner Ernesto Palomo Honored as Hispanic National Bar Association 2019 Latino Attorney of the Year
Chicago Partner Ernesto Palomo, a member of Locke Lord’s Business Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, has been recognized as Latino Attorney of the Year by the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA). -
Appeals court: State of IL can sue community colleges accused of boosting student success numbers to boost state money
An Illinois appeals panel has ruled the Illinois state government can sue another Illinois state entity under the Illinois False Claims Act, in a suit alleging a downstate community college district gave the state the shaft by inflating credit hours of mining students to extract extra grant money from Springfield. -
Appellate court: Judges shouldn't gainsay Catholic church on whether organist a 'minister,' exempt from discrimination suit
A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that a church can claim the ministerial exception to protect it from a discrimination lawsuit brought by a fired organist. -
Big loss for Facebook on IL privacy law, big win for trial lawyers; Legal questions could be ticketed for Supreme Court
A recent decision from a California federal appeals court has handed a big win to a group of plaintiffs seeking to use an Illinois privacy law to squeeze Facebook for potentially billions of dollars, and could forebode a date before the U.S. Supreme Court, should trial lawyers seek to use the decision to boost other attempts to sidestep the high court’s earlier attempt to limit their ability to bring large class actions over claims in which no one suffered any actual harm. -
'Good employment hygiene' can ward off serial discrimination lawsuits, attorney says
Employers should seek to boost good employment practices, including improving techniques for fielding complaints and taking suggestions from employees, to help ward off an uptick in so-called "serial discrimination" lawsuits, such as those being waged against Walmart across the country and soon in Illinois. -
Chicago tries to put brakes on red light camera suit, says plaintiffs waited too long; plaintiffs say there's no time limit
Chicago city attorneys are asking a Cook County judge to toss another class action vs the city over red light camera tickets, contending the suit was lodged too late and second notices were not required anyway. Plaintiffs say the city is asking the court to rescue it from a "quagmire of its own making."