The EEOC, despite major budget cuts and a stated goal of suing on behalf of classes or employers engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination, decided to sue on behalf of a woman fired after only 2 days on the job allegedly because she had a prosthetic leg.

The EEOC is the federal administrative agency that authorizes individuals to sue for employment discrimination matters including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. § 621-629), and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.).

A Cook County jury awarded an iron worker, who fell at a jobsite and was left paralyzed and in need of 24 hour care for the rest of his life, $64 million in total damages.  The company responsible is planning an appeal but the case is a lesson to both workers and construction companies in compliance with workplace safety procedures and policies.  OSHA compliance is critical for the long term survival of both workers and companies.

Blessed with qualified immunity and tort immunity generally, the City and its employees often hide behind either a blue wall of silence, like the Chicago Police has thrown up regarding the off-duty cop body slamming a female bartender, but also the City's Corporation counsel as is the case where the Chicago Police arrested a mentally ill California woman in Midway Airport and detained and released her into a south side neighborhood where she was eventually raped and fell off a building, ending up horribly injured. The CPD failed to adhere to department protocol related to the treatment of mentally suspect offenders and ignored clear evidence and fellow colleague appraisals regarding the mental health of the plaintiff.

The Chicago Tribune reports that, in the face of a federal discrimination lawsuit, the IHSA has changed their policy to allow disabled athletes to participate in some competitions.

The IHSA also created three events specifically for athletes with various disabilities.  With the backing of the Illinois Attorney General, one student, Mary Kate Callahan, 17, has filed suit against the IHSA alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Federal Rehabilitation Act.  Early settlement talks were unsuccessful.

If you are a person with various accessibility needs and you feel that your are being discriminated against by anyone, contact an attorney to discuss whether the law provides a remedy that you can seek in court.

Each title of the ADA provides specific and general rights, privileges, powers, and protections and a litigation or transactional attorney can help you enforce your rights or draft agreements to protect and clarify rights or obligations under the ADA.

The Seventh Circuit, on September 7, overturned a Northern District of IL decision awarding summary judgment to United Airlines over their policy of placing disabled employees in vacant positions only when a more qualified candidate was not available.  

In EEOC v. United Airlines, Inc., 11-cv-1774, the EEOC alleged, and the Seventh Circuit agreed, that United Airlines violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to immediately assign disabled employees who required reasonable accommodations to vacant positions as long as they are qualified for those positions and that placing the employees in such positions did not present an undue hardship to the employer.