In the case of Walter Walczak v. The Human Rights Commission, The Department of Human Rights, and Woodward MPC, Inc., filed in the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District (Case No. 1-22-1497) on May 17, 2024, Walczak sought a review of a decision regarding his age discrimination charge against his former employer. The court affirmed the decision to dismiss his charge due to lack of jurisdiction.
Walczak, representing himself, argued that he complied with the Illinois Human Rights Act's 30-day deadline for submitting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) findings or that this deadline should be tolled on equitable grounds. His charge was initially dismissed by the Department of Human Rights for lack of substantial evidence and later for lack of jurisdiction after failing to submit necessary documents within the stipulated time.
The petitioner alleged that Woodward terminated his employment based on age discrimination and replaced him with a younger individual. He contended that he mailed the EEOC’s dismissal notice to the Department within what he believed was an acceptable timeframe given potential mail delays during his move to Florida.
Walczak is seeking a reversal of the dismissal order and argues for either recognition of compliance with the statutory deadline or application of equitable tolling principles due to misleading advice from a Department representative.
Justice Walker, Hyman and Tailor all concur that the pro se petitioner Mr. Walczak's arguments for the time extension did not apply sighting multiple previous cases including Robinson v. Human Right Commission (1997) and Davis v. Human Rights Commission (1990). They also agree that the Human Rights Commission did not mislead or unfair as they provided Mr. Walczak with accurate information on his submission. The commission's order has been affirmed.