Illinois Plaintiff's Attorney

Watson · August 2005

I have a friend in IL who I believe is being blatantly discriminated against. I know we are all employers on this site, but I was wondering if anyone could give me a referral for a good Illinois Plaintiff's Employment Law attorney that I could send him to?

mushroomHR · August 2005

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 08-04-05 AT 10:16AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Perhaps your friend should contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission office in his area first if he feels he is being blatantly discriminated against.

Parabeagle · August 2005

Ditto. If I'm not mistaken, that hoop needs to be jumped through before he can bring a lawsuit against the employer, anyway.

Watson · August 2005

I agree with both of you but I think he should consult with an attorney first before he takes any type of action on his own behalf. I just don't know anyone there to refer him to.

Parabeagle · August 2005

Check with the Illinois Bar Association. I think just about all bar associations have referral services that are free. You tell them the specialty you need and they will refer you to lawyers in your friend's area who will probably do an initial consultation for little/no cost.

LivindonSouth · August 2005

I really don't think the Employers Forum is the proper place to solicit or recommend attorneys who are in the business of suing employers. Only as a very, very last resort do I think we should engage in that, and maybe not even then. My personal opinion of course.

Disclaimer: This message is not intended to offend or attack. It is posted as personal opinion. If you find yourself offended or uncomfortable, email me and let me know why.

Watson · August 2005

Goodness, didn't mean to offend anyone! I checked before I posted to make sure the offending company was in no way associated with anyone on these boards. Actually, the company's HR person is the one who told me that my friend should sue. Just hoped to seek some friendly advice from fellow members.

LivindonSouth · August 2005

Watson; don't misunderstand. I'm not 'offended'. I'm just aware of some of the basic tenets of the Forum, one of which, I think, is that we don't typically support or advocate employee litigation against employers and certainly don't throw up lists of plaintiff attorneys. If I'm incorrect, I expect the Forum admin staff to say so. The yellow pages is full of plaintiff attorneys in every city in America.

The suggestion I have for you is to find out precisely what the issues are, post them to the Forum and let's see if we can sort through them and provide meaningful advice. Who knows, we may even advise your friend to seek an attorney.

Disclaimer: This message is not intended to offend or attack. It is posted as personal opinion. If you find yourself offended or uncomfortable, email me and let me know why.

Whirlwind · August 2005

I'm not offended either but I agree with Don on this one (stop the presses! x;-)). Asking an HR professional to recommend a labor law plaintiff's attorney is like asking a doctor to recommend a malpractice lawyer. No can do!

Superlative_KC · August 2005

Fair warning - this is a highjack.

Don, you silver-tongued devil. I not only agree with what you said, I'm crazy about the way you said it. This post makes you seem . . .well . . . attractive! XXOO

LivindonSouth · August 2005

Well, I've mostly learned to overlook my club foot and my wife says the wart on my nose is no big deal. If you never look me dead in the face, you'd think both my ears were probably the same size. The drool is hardly noticeable. But, they did call me 'Hose' in high school.

Superlative_KC · August 2005

Then who is that hottie leaning on the bike in front of the bottle tree??

ritaanz · August 2005

Super, if I may ask, are you male or female?

ritaanz · August 2005

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 08-09-05 AT 09:34AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Never mind.

System · August 2005

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 08-05-05 AT 05:58AM (CST)[/font][br][br]"Actually, the company's HR person is the one who told me that my friend should sue."

That's interesting. Is the HR person a friend of yours too? Is he/she the HR Director? Someone isn't doing their job. It's probably a function of HR to conduct training to managers in discrimination. It's also a function of HR to act as the employee advocate and intervene when discrimination is suspect. The last thing HR should do is tell an employee or an employee's friend to sue the employer. HR should take the torch and stop the discrimination. Don't tell your friend to get an attorney. Tell HR to do their job or at least refer the employee through a grievance process first. It's elementary, my dear Watson. x:-)

Hunter1 · August 2005

Well said. Best advice yet!

LivindonSouth · August 2005

(Aren't you razor sharp on a Friday. Must have had time for an extra cup of coffee in that MD air this morning.)

ScorpioHR · August 2005

Yikes, just came in to this thread and I am confused and laughing. Nothing new there. "Hottie under the bottle tree, drool, weird ears,warts"??? What is happening here? /:)

Anyway, my 2 cents worth, I agree that it is a good idea to post the "issue" in question here and let people give their input. I have been in situations myself the last year, too munerous to list, where I felt an ee was being discriminated against, blatantly pushed out the door etc. Unfortunately, my best advise went unheard and when I tried to steer my managers in the right direction, it was a no go. Possibly, that is the situation here and the HR person who recommended an attorney has more insite into the situation then we do on the forum. Lets have some details!!!
jmho

scorpio

Watson · August 2005

Thanks, Scorpio for taking the issue seriously. I wouldn't have posted my question had my friend not been at the stage of feeling helpless and my post was not intended as a slap in the face to companies or their HR professionals. You know the situation is bad when the company HR rep discreetly tells him that an attorney would be appropriate at this stage. Anyway, he's over 40, been with the Company for 9 years now, exemplary performance reviews, and all of a sudden cannot get any of the internal jobs he's posted for. He finally asked someone in the know who told him that the company was trying to promote the younger employees because they cost less. He approached HR to commence the grievance procedure and was told it would just get him alienated from management and he'd never go anywhere else. I think an attorney familiar with discrimination and EEOC matters should give him advice as to his next move. He may be able to skip the grievance procedure if he's been told it's a nail in his coffin, I just don't know. That's my story, Scorpio. Thanks!

LivindonSouth · August 2005

I think you should go back and read posts number 5,7,8,9&10. They're all serious posts representing quite a few years in the business. Seems to me you should make up your mind which side of the equation you want to represent in employer-employee relations. Although we are often in the role of employee advocate and of employee relations, you can't walk a fence and you certainly should not be recommending litigation to employees of your own, let alone those at another place of work.

Illinois Plaintiff's Attorney

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