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Protecting Performers: Lessons from ‘Drag Law’ and the Illinois Freelance Worker Protection Act

Amanda Burns from our office had the privilege of presenting at the Lawyers for the Creative Arts event “Drag Law: Werk the Law” on September 30, 2025. The event focused on intellectual property rights of drag performers, contracting rights of performers, and looked at recent litigation surrounding drag performers as it related to intellectual property and payment issues. This event featured performances by two local Chicago drag artists Coco Sho-Nell and Lúc Ami. Amanda’s portion of the event focused on...

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New Legal Protections: Reproductive Health Decisions

As of January 1, 2025, Illinois law now protects employees and job applicants from discrimination based on their reproductive health decisions. This means you have the right to bring a claim if your employer takes adverse action against you because of choices related to: Birth control or contraception Fertility treatment or sterilization care Assisted reproductive technologies (such as IVF) Miscarriage management Abortion Pregnancy-related healthcare, including prenatal and postnatal care These protections apply to both current employees and prospective employees during...

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Alejandro Caffarelli Named to LawDragon Top 500

We are very proud to announce that Caffarelli & Associates Ltd. shareholder Alejandro Caffarelli has been named to the 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers list.  The Lawdragon 500 honors attorneys who fight tirelessly for justice—defending individuals who have faced harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, and other violations of civil rights and employment law.  Inclusion in this list reflects the firm’s deep commitment to protecting workers’ rights and ensuring fairness in the workplace. The Firm is...

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Seventh Circuit Maintains Bar for Title VII Claims

In Lohmeier v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, 2025 WL 2348765 (7th Cir. Aug. 14, 2025), the Seventh Circuit affirmed employer’s motion for summary judgment against its former employee. In Lohmeier, the plaintiff was employed as a nurse at defendant’s hospital. Plaintiff was terminated for behavioral concerns and suspected narcotics theft. Lohmeier, 2025 WL 2348765 at *1. Specifically, at least five coworkers observed and testified to plaintiff being “tired,” “under the influence of drugs,” with one witness stating that she “appeared intoxicated...

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The Illinois Human Rights Act Expands to Protect Employees with Family Responsibilities

Effective January 1, 2025, Illinois employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee or a prospective employee based on the employee’s “family responsibilities.” Employers cannot make recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, training, discharge, discipline, or other employment decisions based on an employees’ actual or perceived personal care responsibilities for a family member. The law references the Employee Sick Leave Act to define “family members” and “personal care.” Family members covered by the Act include: children, stepchildren, spouses, domestic partners,...

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Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal Amidst Procedural Pitfalls

On June 9, 2025, the Seventh Circuit affirmed District Court Judge Kennelly’s decision in Anderson v. United Airlines, Inc., denying the plaintiffs’ motion to amend their complaint, dismissing the case. No. 24-1626 (7th Cir. June 9, 2025). If plaintiffs’ appeal had been successful Anderson would have added to a growing list of Seventh Circuit decisions regarding the viability of vaccine mandate claims in the employment realm. However, the Northern District, as affirmed by the Seventh Circuit, dismissed the case before...

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A Call for Comprehensive Fee Shifting for Employment-Law Claims

Access to justice in employment law remains an elusive promise for the vast majority of American workers. While an array of federal and state laws purport to protect workers, the mechanisms for enforcing those rights are often inaccessible, rendering them meaningless. Administrative agencies and state equivalents tasked with investigating discrimination and wage violations, for example, are often chronically underfunded and subject to political erosion. As demonstrated by recent changes at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and National Labor Relations Board,...

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Supreme Court Bars State Administrative Hurdles for Federal Civil Rights Claims

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday in the case of Williams v. Washington (No. 23-191) that an Alabama law requiring people to go through the state’s administrative process before filing federal civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 is unconstitutional. The 5-4 decision found that the law created an unfair barrier to asserting federal rights. The law, upheld by Alabama’s Supreme Court in 2023, required unemployment benefits claimants to complete the state’s appeals process before going to court....

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General

Supreme Court Rules on FLSA Evidence Standards in Overtime Exemption Case

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday that disputes over Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exemptions do not require heightened evidence standards. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the court, rejected employees’ arguments for a “clear and convincing evidence” standard, reaffirming that the preponderance of evidence standard is appropriate in civil litigation unless explicitly altered by statute, constitutional requirements, or precedent involving severe government actions. The case, EMD Sales Inc. v. Carrera, centered on whether a higher standard should apply in...

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