The Chicago Teachers Union is striking in Chicago right now. The teacher's union hurdled the many procedural requirements to legally strike for wages, but recent changes to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, 115 ILCS 5/1 (IELRA) may have made the strike illegal as wage demands have been met. Below is an unofficial napkin analysis of the legal issues at play. Since some provisions have only been effective for a bit over a year, there is no real precedent on this issue and this napkin analysis reviews the plain statutory law that governs this strike.
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A Chicago Tribune article on a school district's battle against a discrimination lawsuit illustrates that a battle of experts may lead to victory, but only at great cost.
In 2004, District U-46, based in Elgin, IL, changed its district boundaries. In 2005 parents of children from District U-46 sued alleging that the boundary change was intentionally crafted to place minority students in substandard and overcrowded conditions. Further, the suit alleged that the District reduced these students' access to gifted and bilingual programs. The Chicago Tribune has reported an amusing, but common, story of neighbors who use their respective property in incompatible ways that create conflict. According to a lawsuit filed, likely based on nuisance, breach of contract, and violations of the Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/1 et seq., a set of owners that had a condo in the building before the new owner ("Cat Lady"), have allergies to cats. Cat Lady has allegedly accumulated 20 cats in her single bedroom condo. The smell from the urine and feces has wafted, through shared ventilation, into the neighboring condos. The affected condo owners have sent letters notifying both the Cat Lady and the association (and its Board) of the issue. Even with notice, all parties failed to cure the issue and the offended parties sued.
Debt collectors are getting even more aggressive in the wake of the Great Financial Collapse of 2008. As more and more Americans lose their jobs, homes, and livelihoods, debt collectors have expanded their "playbook" to collect on the debts created by the moribund economic state.
The Chicago Tribune has posted an article describing the aggressive, and often illegal, tactics that debt collectors have employed since 2008. Some states, such as California, are pushing back through lawsuits, both public and private, as well as proposed new state laws to counter some of the more egregious tactics, including harassing phone calls, intimidation, and a flood of lawsuits where they mostly obtain judgments by default and seek to enforce their judgments by freezing assets or garnishing wages (if any). |
AuthorRishi Nair owns Nair Law LLC and practices as Of Counsel at Keener and Associates, P.C. Archives
October 2013
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