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...

Abal Zaidi, a former corrections officer in Geneva, has sued the Kane County Sheriff’s Department, claiming he was fired for refusing to shave his beard.

Zaidi joined the department in July 2006 and received positive reviews. Four months later, Sheriff Pat Perez posted an employee bulletin requiring all officers to be cleanshaven.

Zaidi refused, saying his beard was an expression of his Muslim faith. Perez asked him to produce documentation to support his claim. But Zaidi claims before he could comply, he was asked to resign or face termination for poor performance. That’s when he decided to sue.

Perez said he had merely reinstituted an existing facial hair policy that had lapsed under a prior administration. Before posting it, Perez said he had asked officers and members of the public whether beards on sheriff’s department officers looked professional. The consensus was no.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago is representing Zaidi.

Note: In July 2008, the EEOC noted that employers must “reasonably accommodate employee’s religious practices where the accommodation does not impose undue hardship.”