Author: msaawe

Pregnancy is one of most exhilarating experiences of a woman’s life. It is certainly a life-altering experience as you, blessed with the miracle of life, carry and give birth to a human being. Unfortunately, in some instances, pregnant women tend to face discrimination. Despite federal laws which explicitly prohibit any sort of discriminatory behavior towards pregnant women, the number of discrimination cases continues to rise. According to local employment discrimination lawyers, refusal to hire or provide adequate medical leaves are the most common types of discrimination faced by pregnant women across the United States.

Know Your Rights – How Does the Law Protect Pregnant Women Against Discrimination?

Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which is a federal act of law, employers cannot discriminate on the basis of pregnancy or any other aspect of pregnancy such as childbirth, miscarriages etc. Added as an amendment to the Civil Rights Act (1964), the federal act explicitly prohibits employers to discriminate against pregnant women.

The protection against pregnancy discrimination is further augmented by the Illinois state legislation titled ‘the Illinois Pregnancy Accommodation Law’. In short, both federal and state laws provide ample protection to women who are victims of discrimination based on their sex and pregnancy. As per sex discrimination lawyers, most women are unaware of their rights. Lack of awareness is a major issue which allows employers to get away with pregnancy discrimination.

How to Deal with Discrimination?

Under the law, your employer is supposed to accommodate you in a reasonable manner. Accommodations such as lighter workloads particularly in jobs involving manual labor, allowing frequent bathroom breaks and time off work to help you recover from childbirth. If your employer fails to reasonably fulfil his or her duties as stipulated by law, you might have a strong case.

If you are a pregnant woman who is currently facing discrimination at work on the basis of your condition, you should immediately seek guidance from a sex discrimination lawyer. Even if you were discriminated against post-partum, you can seek justice from the court within 300 days of the incident.

If you feel like you have been subjected to discrimination by your employer due to your pregnancy and want to schedule a free consultation with an experienced sex discrimination lawyer, contact the Law Offices of Joshua D. McCann, LTD.

Discrimination refers to an unfair or biased treatment of people due to their racial background, gender, age or even religion. Religious discrimination, a term used to refer to the prejudiced treatment of certain people due to their religious beliefs, is becoming a serious concern. Every year hundreds and thousands of people face different treatment due to their personal religious beliefs. According to FBI hate crime statistics, while people from all religions are victims of religious discrimination, a vast number of them belong to minority groups such as Jews and Muslims.

How Can You Be Discriminated Against on The Basis of Your Beliefs?

There are many ways in which a person can be discriminated against due to their religious beliefs or the lack thereof.

• Direct & Indirect Discrimination –Direct discrimination can be on a personal level where an individual does not approve of your religious beliefs whereas indirect discrimination is a term often referred to the policies of an organization, business or educational, which leave people belonging from certain religious group at a disadvantage due to their beliefs or lack thereof.

• Harassment –Religious discrimination can take extreme forms when people are harassed due to their religious beliefs. At times, reporting harassment can lead such a person in further trouble as they are labeled as troublemakers. Anyone who plays a role in a discrimination case often finds themselves being subjected to discrimination as well.

• Hate Crimes –The most extreme form of religious discrimination takes in the form of hate crimes where people are threatened, abused and attacked just because of their religious beliefs. A hate crime can entail hate mail, damage to personal property, insulting leaflets and even acts of violence such as assault or attempt to murder.

Does the Law Offer Any Protection Against Religious Discrimination?

Both federal and state law offers comprehensive protection against all sorts of discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of religion. Just like sex discrimination lawyers and age discrimination lawyers defend the rights of their clients, remedies, and justice can be acquired by victims of religious discrimination through litigation. Religious discrimination by housing societies, employers or educational institutions can easily be remedied by an experienced religious/employment discrimination lawyer.

If you feel like you have been subjected to religious discrimination at work, school or anywhere else or want to schedule a free consultation with an experienced employment discrimination lawyer, contact the Law Offices of Joshua D. McCann, LTD.

FMLA or Family & Medical Leave Act is a federal act enacted more than three decades. Prior to the ratification of the act, people would lose their jobs whenever they were afflicted with a serious ailment which made them take more than a week off from work. Therefore, in order to protect the jobs of millions of employees, the FMLA was enacted which required employers across the USA to provide family and medical leave to their workers.

What Rights Do the Employers Get Through FMLA?

The Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires employers to allow their employees 12 weeks off from work in a 12-month period for a variety of reasons including childbirth and serious health conditions. Eligible employees can receive FMLA for:

• Childbirth and to care of the child during the first year of his or her life.

• To care for a newly placed adopted child for the first year of his/her life with a new family.

• To cope with a serious ailment or health condition which makes the employee unable to carry out his or her mandated duties.

• To take care of a close family member including spouse, parents or child suffering from a serious ailment.

• To take care of a relative who is a service member with a severe injury which requires constant care.

A recent amendment in the FMLA final rule has changed the definition of spouse, making it possible for same-sex couples eligible to receive FMLA.

Who is eligible for FMLA?

Companies with a minimum of 50 employees on their payroll are legally bound to abide by the FMLA. Employees must have worked for the company for a minimum of 12 months to be eligible to get an unpaid leave under the aforementioned act. In some instances, the number of hours the employee has worked are also considered in establishing their eligibility. In some circumstances, employers take advantage of their employees’ lack of knowledge regarding their legal rights and terminate them for taking unpaid leaves for more than 3-4 weeks. If your employer considers your break “too long” for any of the reasons stated above and has terminated your employment, then it is time to consult an experienced employment lawyer to defend your rights under the Family Medical Leave Act.

If you feel like you have been subjected to wrongful termination by your employer or want to schedule a free consultation with an experienced employment lawyer, contact the Law Offices of Joshua D. McCann, LTD.

If you recently lost your job for reasons you feel were unjustified than there is a big chance that you were wrongfully terminated. The state of Illinois allows workers to work at their own will. It indicates that an employee can be fired for any reason, anytime or for no reason at all.

Consulting with a wrongful termination lawyer will highlight some exceptions to the will of employees rule. If you feel that the employer fired you for a reason not related to poor organizational performance or any other wrongdoing, then it could be discriminatory termination.

Termination Based on Discrimination

The Federal law states that it is illegal for an employer to terminate an employee based on their protected characteristic. The law also prohibits employers from the termination of an employee based on sex, color, race, nationality, religious beliefs, citizenship status, disability, and age. Sometimes, employees are fired after getting an injury if that happens, contact a retaliatory discharge lawyer.

The law is applicable to employers with 15 or more employees. The termination based on age discrimination is applicable to companies with 20 plus employees. While terminating employees based on citizenship status is applicable to employers who holds 4 or more employees.

Family and Medical Leave Act

The Family and Medical Leave Act permits employees to take some paid time off work to care for family members who are ill. The FMLA is established to help employees care for injured or ill family members as it is extremely important for the success of the working families.

The FMLA is established to assist workers when they need to help their families, however, the law does not in any instance indicate that an employee is entitled to skip work for days without any valid reason.

One of the most valid reasons for getting FMLA leave is to help a spouse or a partner welcome a new child into their home. Being a parent is important and employees need some time off work to adjust to the new routine.

If you feel that your employer is not granting you the mandatory time off, even for valid reasons, then discussing the issue with a Family and Medical Leave Act lawyer will provide all the necessary details about the law and its provisions.

For more information, or to schedule a free consultation, contact Law Offices of Joshua D. McCann, LTD to speak with an experienced attorney on this topic.

The practice of employment discrimination involves the practice of treating an individual or a group of people in a different way from other employees. According to the employment law, the discrimination could be based on an employee’s affiliation within a category protected by law, as gender, age, religious affiliation, and race. If you face any type of discrimination from anyone at the workplace, then it’s best to consult an employment discrimination lawyer to protect your rights.

Sex-Based Employment Discrimination

Every state has its own employment discrimination laws, the Illinois Human Rights Act forbids all employers to discriminate in terms of gender including pregnancy, childbirth, paid leaves, and gender-related medical conditions.

Just like other states in the US, Illinois has strict sex-based discrimination laws to protect employees from unfavorable workplace harassment. Consultation with a sex discrimination lawyer will highlight that discrimination against any person or harassment of an individual based on their sexual orientation, transgender status and gender identity is unlawful.

The discrimination covers all the employment decisions including hiring, termination, remuneration, job assignment, job titles, training, benefits and alterations in terms and condition of employment.

Age-Based Employment Discrimination

If you feel that you have been unlawfully terminated based on your age, consult with an experienced Age Discrimination lawyer to learn about your options. Our attorney can help determine if the candidates’ age was a factor in deciding to hire, terminate, promote, assign benefits, and arrange training and job assignment.

By law, it is unlawful to include a preferred age for a job, employers must forbid from favoring a particular age group while hiring. Companies are allowed to limit the age only in rare circumstances where the inclusion of age is a “bona fide occupational qualification” (BFOQ).

In the state of Illinois, a “private right of action” does not exist by law. Hence, any employment discrimination case will be claimed under the Illinois Human Rights Act that indicates individuals won’t be able to file a discrimination lawsuit in a court under Illinois law.

Similarly, the anti-discrimination statue of Illinois covers that small company employers are not covered by the federal law for retaliation, sexual harassment and age discrimination. Any such case will be filed with IDHR.

Instead, the case will be forwarded to the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the agency will pursue the discrimination claim under the Human Rights Acts when substantial evidence is available.

Employment discrimination occurs when an employee or a job seeker is treated unfavorably due to their race, national origin, skin color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or age. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Age discrimination involves treating an applicant or employee less favorably because of his or her age.”

Firing an employee based on their age factor, instead of skills, capabilities, and behavior, is a wrongful termination. In this case, the employee should consult a reputable, well-versed employment lawyer to protect his/her job. In fact, judging older workers merely on the basis of their age factor rather than abilities can gravely affect workers’ financial security, especially at the time as well as into their retirement. However, it is a challenging case to bring in court as well as a tough one to win. In addition, it can also be financially as well as emotionally draining, and you may hardly get a day in court for this matter.

Believe it or not, employment seekers are presently reporting age discrimination even as early as their mid-thirties. Thus, they can eventually be viewed as washed up in certain industries by the time when they reach their forties. That is why there are laws that forbid any kind of employment discrimination based on the age factor. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) strictly prohibits age discrimination against individuals who are forty or over.

Just to make you aware that discrimination can occur only when the victim, as well as the individual who inflicted such discrimination, are both over forty years of age. Also, the discrimination can occur in any aspect of employment, like hiring, termination, job assignments, salary, benefits, training, layoff, promotions, and other terms and conditions of employment.

You hold the right to initiate legal proceedings if you believe you are facing age discrimination. However, always consider negotiating with your supervisor or employer first or taking advantage of your organization’s already established grievance system. You may be able to convince your employer to settle the matter with you when your case is already strong. In fact, according to experienced and reputable employment discrimination lawyers, employers often prefer out of court settlement for cases when employees have one or more solid evidence of age bias.

If you are facing age discrimination at your workplace, you should contact the Law Offices of Joshua D. McCann, LTD today to schedule an initial consultation and discuss your case.

Illinois is a progressive state, when it comes to the laws and regulations that protect all social, communal or gender groups from discrimination. A common topic is transgender discrimination, which is now an offense in Illinois. The Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) protects the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community from any kind of workplace discrimination. Here, we describe how you can fight such discrimination in Illinois and use legal help from a transgender discrimination lawyer if you need it.

Unique Rights

The state of Illinois passed an important law in 2015, which grants dignity to transgender individuals. This allows the transgender community to mention their sexuality and gender choice, for burial and other funeral activities. This is a unique proposition in the United States, and ensures that you are well-protected from persecution due to your unique gender choice.

Using Restrooms

Another advantage in Illinois is that you do not have to provide a proof of your gender identity. You are protected by the public accommodation law, in the state of Illinois. If you face transgender discrimination when using a restroom, you can take the matter to a court of law and get a fair compensation for the emotional turmoil that you faced. The same situation may also apply to other public places in the state.

Hate Crime

The Hate Crime Act in Illinois also protects the transgender community. Although transgenders were not directly mentioned in the language of the legislation, the Illinois Department of Human Rights clearly states that the law provides complete protection against any hate crime that occurs due to a particular sexual orientation, which includes the transgender identity. However, the latest amendment to the law now specifically protects the gender identity of an individual.

If you find that you have been a victim of a hate crime, due to your sexual orientation, you can certainly raise your concerns. You can hire a discrimination lawyer in Illinois and get the required relief from a court of law in the state. The penalties for such crimes are now severe, and your employment and other rights are fully protected as a transgender resident of the state of Illinois.

Health Insurance Issues

One problem that the transgender community currently faces is poor coverage in the health insurance schemes. Denial of the required health insurance coverage is a real issue for this community all across the United States. The insurance companies are now bound by law in Illinois to not drop your case, because you belong to the transgender community.

This means that if you face transgender discrimination in any health-related services, you can hire an experienced discrimination lawyer and ensure that your health insurance rights are fully protected. You should always attempt to get an insurance deal that covers all your issues, especially which pertain to your transgender identity. This means that you must cover any treatment that you may need, especially for maintaining your health, which is unrelated to the transitioning process.

Illinois is truly a heaven for the transgender community. Talk to an experienced Schaumburg wrongful termination attorney to discuss your case. Contact the Law Offices of Joshua D. McCann, LTD today for a consultation.

Illinois is a state where employment is at will. This means that both the employer and the employee can terminate their working relationship at any time without prior notice or reason. At-will employment positions behave the same way in all other aspects of business, apart from allowing all parties to close their bond with each other. This may mean to you that there cannot be a wrongful termination in Illinois, but this is not the actual case. There are various instances where you can be wrongly terminated by your employer.

Here, we describe you such cases where you may need to hire an employment lawyer in Illinois to fight for your rights.

Discrimination

There are times when a company may want to offload a few employees, due to a shortage of work or for decreasing their expenses. However, an employer in Illinois cannot discriminate during this offloading, based on your citizenship, ancestry, religion or race. If you believe that you have suffered a wrongful termination, then you are protected by the Article 2 of the Illinois Human Rights Act.

This article protects all employees from facing any discrimination. You should hire legal help if you have faced such an issue. Remember, a lawyer better understands whether you faced wrongful termination or it was just a case of a necessary elimination of your employment.

Contract Breach

The employees are protected in an at-will working environment with the terms of their employment contract. They can ensure that the employer can only perform a termination due to issues that concern productivity or performance. If the contract was agreed in writing, then you can seek advice from an employment lawyer in Illinois to pursue your case for wrongful termination.

Remember, the point that you need to present in this legal battle is that the terms of the contract were not honored. The employer reserves the right to end the employment partnership, but cannot fire an employee based on a random reason, when the allowed reasons are already specified in the contract.

Violation of Public Policy

Another instance where wrongful termination may happen is when your employer violates the public policy. This is against the fundamental legal principles and identified in the state of Illinois. Take the example of an employee reporting the employer for the violation of a particular law. If the employer now terminates such an employee, they have the perfect case to appeal for a wrongful termination in Illinois.

Based on Leave

There are many leaves that you can receive in Illinois, based on the employment laws that describe them. You can always take a leave to serve in the armed forces and your job cannot be terminated based on joining the military service. You should also get an unpaid leave for serving as a jury member. You get a paid time off for the voting activity in the state. If your employer terminates you for a qualified leave, then it counts as a wrongful termination.

You can always seek legal help for resolving wrongful termination issues. Talk to an experienced Schaumburg wrongful termination attorney to discuss your case. Contact the Law Offices of Joshua D. McCann, LTD today for a consultation.

When employees complain against their employers about harassment, discrimination, or any other illegal act, they often face retaliation, leading to negative consequences for their job. However, several federal and state laws are in place that provide protection to such employees from unfavorable treatment and retaliatory discharge for asserting their rights and doing the right thing. Employees can file a retaliation claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and get compensation for the difficulties and damages they suffered as a result. However, they must establish the following three things in order to prove their claim:

• They were engaged in a protected activity

• The employer retaliated against you for engaging in that protected activity

• The retaliation was a result of your protected activity, i.e. the employer’s actions had a direct connection to the protected activity

It is essential that you prove all of these points to prove that your employer retaliated against you.

Reporting Violations of the Law by Your Employer

An employer is prohibited to terminate or fire an employee for reporting a criminal or any other activity breaching the law to the management or government regulatory bodies. If an employee refuses to participate in an illegal activity, an employer cannot take actions, like firing, changing departments, or demoting to punish them. The EEOC provides protection for retaliatory discharge when an employee makes an external report to the government regulators or law enforcement agencies, or internal report to the senior management.

If you are terminated from your job due to your employer’s retaliation, you can bring a claim against them when you have:

• Reported the violation of the law by your co-worker, supervisor, or employer to a government regulatory authority or organization’s management

• Reported Medicare fraud

• Reported health code violations

• Reported breach of OSHA safety protocol

• Reported sales of expired products or food items

• Reported incidents that violate the provisions of the Nursing Home Care Act to the Illinois Department of Public Health and/or the management

• Reported elder abuse in a nursing home to the regulatory authorities or law enforcement

• Reported neglect or abuse of residents of a nursing home to the Illinois Department of Public Health

• Reported incidents of child labor or abuse to law enforcement or management

• Refused to falsely testify or commit perjury to cover up employer’s illegal actions

• Refused to tamper with a federal tax record for your employer

• Participated in jury duty

• Attended court when subpoenaed

• Reported unsuitable conditions or violations of health code for proper food storage

These are just a few examples of circumstances when you can face retaliation from your employer and negative consequences as a result. If you have suffered from retaliatory discharge because you complained about an illegal activity, you should consult your case with an experienced retaliatory discharge attorney. They will explain your rights and what actions you can take to remedy your situation. Contact the Law Offices of Joshua D. McCann, LTD today to schedule an initial consultation with an employment discrimination attorney.

If you have been denied an employment opportunity, benefits, a well-deserved promotion, or were fired due to your pregnancy, you can take a legal action against your employer for discrimination. Every year, thousands of cases are filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for pregnancy discrimination. In 2014, new laws in Illinois were introduced to instruct employers for making reasonable accommodations, such as breastfeeding rights, light duty, and others, for their pregnant employees.

Your Rights Under Federal and Illinois Laws

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) is part of the federal Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that applies on employers with 15 or more employees and prohibits them from engaging in discriminatory acts against women based on childbirth, pregnancy, and other related medical conditions. In addition, the Illinois Human Rights Act has strict provisions against sex discrimination, which involves pregnancy discrimination as well. However, unlike the PDA, it applies to all types of organizations, including those with just a single employee.

Under these laws, you are protected from discrimination in the following ways:

• A prospective employer cannot ask you about your plans for having children or your pregnancy in a job interview.

• Your employer cannot deny promotion or appraisal that you clearly deserve due to your medical condition.

• Your employer cannot cut your hours or lay you off if they find out about your pregnancy. It is your right to keep your job as long as you are meeting its work requirements. Moreover, you are protected from any form of harassment, both from your employer and other employees, pertaining to your condition.

• Your employer is prohibited to provide different treatment than other employees because of your pregnancy. According to the Supreme Court, this means that your employer cannot put additional burden, like they may on other employees.

Temporary Disability and Pregnancy

If a pregnant employee is unable to carry out her work duties on a temporary basis due to her condition, the employer is required to treat her as they would an employee with temporary disability. In addition, if an employee experiences impairments due to pregnancy, they may be considered as disabilities under the ADA. This means that such an employee is entitled to accommodation in terms of alternative assignments, modified tasks, light duty work, leave without pay, or disability leave.

Compensation Available for Pregnancy Discrimination

If you are a victim of pregnancy discrimination, you may be able to receive several types of damages based on the individual circumstances of your case, such as:

• Pain and suffering, including emotional distress due to loss of employment or other discriminatory actions

• Attorney’s fees and court costs

• Out-of-pocket expenses, back pay, and lost benefits

• Front pay when reinstatement may not be a valid option

• Punitive damages to punish the employer for engaging in discriminatory acts and overstepping the legal boundaries

If you have faced discrimination based on your pregnancy related medical condition, you can file a complaint with the EEOC, and take legal action against your employer. Contact the Law Offices of Joshua D. McCann, LTD today to schedule an initial consultation with an employment discrimination attorney.