On April 27,2022, the Chicago City Council passed SO2022-665, which broadened the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) and imposed new requirements on Chicago employers with respect to preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.  Pursuant to the Ordinance, all employees working in Chicago must participate in sexual harassment prevention training and bystander training annually.

Specifically, affected employers are now required…

HB3129 (the “Bill”), which was introduced in the Illinois House of Representatives on February 16, 2013, and passed by the Labor & Commerce Committee on February 28, 2023, would require Illinois employers to include pay scale information in job postings—or face financial consequences.  The Bill defines “pay scale” to mean the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably…

Before closing the book on 2022, we look back at the most significant verdicts issued in trade secret trials this past year.  In 2022, several juries awarded extraordinary verdicts to plaintiffs. These verdicts suggest a growing trend in damages theories and illustrate the importance of expert testimony in both the prosecution and defense of trade secret misappropriation cases.  The cases…

***UPDATE: Mayor Bruce Harrell signed the amendments into law on February 23, 2023.***

Seattle has become the first U.S. city to approve legislation amending city ordinances to prohibit discrimination on the basis of “caste,” including in the context of employment.  The proposals now go before the mayor for signature.

The legislative push was largely driven by discrimination-related concerns with respect…

On February 17, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that claims under the Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) may accrue with each biometric scan and not just on an individual’s first scan.  Cothron v. White Castle System, Inc., 2023 IL 128004.

In Cothron, the plaintiff alleged that the employer failed to follow BIPA’s requirements in connection requiring employees to scan…

On February 1, 2023, a coalition of U.S. Senators and Members of the House of Representatives reintroduced a bill titled the Workforce Mobility Act (the “Act”), seeking to prohibit the use and enforcement of post-employment non-competition agreements. The bill had been previously introduced in 2018, 2019, and 2021, but it was stalled each time and did not make it to…

On February 2, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed in part the decision of an Illinois Appellate Court and held that all claims brought pursuant to Section 15 of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), 740 ILCS § 14/1, et seq., are subject to a five-year statute of limitations period. Tims v. Black Horse Carriers, Inc., No. 2023 IL 127801.…