HR Specialist: Illinois Employment Law

Compared to other states, Illinois makes it easier for employers to get sued. Aggressive attorneys don’t stop with federal laws like FMLA, ADA and FLSA: they use state and local living-wage statutes, rural codes, plus discrimination and other laws to sue employers for sky’s-the-limit damages. This Illinois-specific newsletter arrives monthly to help sue-proof every aspect of HR. Written in plain English, it’s your insurance policy for staying in step with current interpretations of state and local laws – and staying out of court. Learn more about HR Specialist: Illinois Employment Law and the free report you’ll get when you subscribe...

Don’t throw out those leave requests or FMLA certifications—especially if you rejected any requests—until at least three years have passed. Employees have up to three years to file an FMLA lawsuit if the alleged violation was willful—and they don’t have to go to the EEOC or a state discrimination agency first.

That means you won’t know whether there will be a lawsuit for up to three years.

Recent case: United Airlines fired John Meyer from his job. That’s apparently when he began thinking about lawsuit options and settled on an FMLA claim for rejected intermittent leave.

He sued, alleging events that occurred as long ago as 2003.

The court said Meyer had to be more specific, since only allegations covering the previous three years can be used against the employer. (Meyer v. United Airlines, No. 08-C-0599, ND IL, 2008)