As of January 1, 2020, all single occupancy-one person restrooms in a “place of public accommodation or public building” need to be identified as all-gender accessible and designated for use by no more than one person at a time or by a family unit. Simply stated, this means that the commonly used signage representing that…

Employers always seem to find themselves as the unwitting recipient/victim of the actions of others-sometimes other companies, sometimes the Government, but in almost all cases, some of their employees. Whether it is the Federal or State Government, the Me Too Movement or in this case, Generation Z and Millennials, Employers are always going to be…

In recent years, a number of Federal Appellate Courts have issued opinions finding that the single use of a racial slur would be sufficient to constitute a hostile and offensive working environment based on race. On August 21, 2019, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reached the opposite conclusion in concluding that the single alleged…

The first thing to check is: Was the Charge of Discrimination filed “timely”? A Charge of Discrimination must be filed within 300 days after the alleged discriminatory actions, or one year for a fair housing case. Employers accused of discrimination are required to preserve any records pertinent to the Charge. Additionally, employers are prohibited from…

On April 11, 2019, the Illinois state Senate passed Senate Bill 1829, also known as the Workplace Transparency Act. If passed by the Illinois House of Representatives and if signed by the Governor, this Act would impose new requirements and limitations with respect to harassment and discrimination claims on Illinois employers. As of May 10,…

Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh (7th) Circuit (applicable to the State of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin) issued a far-reaching decision on the basis of an 8 to 4 decision (all twelve justices of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Hearing and Ruling on the case) establishing that job applicants may…

Employers put their companies and themselves at great legal risk (unnecessarily!) when they assume that their pregnant employees cannot do their job just because they are pregnant. Of course, pregnancy can affect or limit an employee’s ability to do her job in certain ways, but employers should be very careful that they do not make…

Good news for Illinois employers! On August 13, 2018, Illinois Governor Rauner vetoed House Bill 4572. This proposed “anti-business” legislation would have expanded the definition of employers covered under the Illinois Human Rights Act with regard to employment discrimination of certain types (i.e., race, national origin, religion) from employers with 15 employees or more to…

Over the last several years, the Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission (“LIRC”) has developed a maddening interpretation of the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act as it relates to disability discrimination; that is, if the conduct that prompted an employee’s discipline was caused by a disability, then taking action based on that conduct is an act…

On Monday, June 4, 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Masterpiece Cake Shop Ltd, et al. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, et al. Case No. 16-111 in which it ruled in favor of a Christian baker who had refused to bake a custom wedding cake ordered by a same-sex couple in…