Articles Tagged with Chicago Trial Lawyer

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Wire Tapping vs. Browser Tracking?

Software like Meta Pixel and Google Analytics that website operators use to track what sites a person visits, or what footprint they leave on those sites, is not subject to the same restrictions as wiretapping a phone line, according to a split decision from the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, in a case brought against two hospitals.

The court in Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital, et al (SJC-13542), ruled that wiretapping and browser tracking are categorically different pursuits, in its eyes, unless the state legislature decides otherwise. “If the Legislature intends for the Wiretap Act’s criminal and civil penalties to prohibit the tracking of a person’s browsing of, and interaction with, published information on websites, it must say so expressly,” wrote Associate Judge Scott Kafker in the opinion.

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Corporate Transparency Act

This is big reminder for every small business owner.

Under U.S. Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), most corporations, limited liabilty companies and other legal entities, including homeowners’ associations (HOAs), condominium associations, and co-op associations, are required to file Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) with the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) by no later than January 1, 2025.  Every U.S. business must register and file this report.

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Make Sure Non-Disclosure Agreements Don’t Stymie Whistleblowing

Small businesses who enter into non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with employees need to ensure that those documents clearly delineate that they will not be used to discriminate against those who engage in “whistleblower” activity—or such employers could potentially face unpleasant regulatory consequences.

This was underscored in late July, when the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a “reminder” that the Consumer Financial Protection Act establishing the agency bars employers from either firing or otherwise discriminating against employees who participate in whistleblower activity, assuming the business in question is regulated by the CFPB.

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Illinois Civil Rights Protection Goes High-Tech: Illinois Human Rights Act Expanded to Include AI Regulation

Illinois Human Rights Act Expanded to Include AI Regulation

Recently, Illinois Governor Pritzker signed H.B. 3773 into law, marking a significant expansion of the Illinois Human Rights Act to include specific regulations on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in employment decisions. This move reflects the state’s ongoing commitment to civil rights protection, now extending into the realm of advanced technology.

What Does H.B. 3773 Mean for Your Business?

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Time to Review Severance Agreement

Employers who have not already done so should comprehensively review their past and present severance agreements to ensure that any non-disparagement and confidentiality clauses contained therein do not run afoul of the National Labor Relations Board’s ruling in a February 2023 case called McLaren Macomb, in which the NLRB significantly—and retroactively—restricted employers’ rights to include such clauses.

Referring to a provision of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) that protects employees’ rights to “engage in protected, concerted activities to address or improve working conditions,” the board wrote that: “a severance agreement is unlawful if its terms have a reasonable tendency to interfere with, or coerce employees in the exercise of their Section 7 rights.”

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Are NDAs for Sexual Harassment dead?

Employers will no longer be able to require workers to sign upfront non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) pertaining to sexual harassment incidents they have experienced or witnessed under new federal legislation that passed overwhelmingly through Congress and signed into law by President Biden on December 7.

One operative word here is “upfront.”   The Speak Out Act does not prohibit businesses from negotiating for NDAs that cover sexual harassment as part of a court settlement.  It simply means that aggrieved employees will need to speak out before filing any potential lawsuit that could lead to an NDA prohibiting them from doing so.  The new legislation also does not apply retroactively, so employers that previously had NDAs in place will not suddenly be faced with a flood of public allegations from prior to the legislation’s signing; the prohibition on upfront NDAs applies only going forward.

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How Do Family Businesses Survive Transition?

The Cornell University Smith Family Business Initiative says that more than three-quarters (77%) of small businesses rest on significant family involvement. Family Enterprise USA has counted 5.5 million family businesses in the U.S., finding that they contribute 57% of the U.S. GDP, employ 63% of workers and create 78% of all new jobs. And not all are small businesses: Businessweek.com has reported that 35% of Fortune 500 companies are family-controlled.

But the statistics on how often family businesses don’t sustain themselves over time—whether due to squabbling or for other reasons—paint a stark picture. According to Business Week, 40% of family-owned businesses reach the second generation, 13% get to a third and just 3% are passed down to a fourth generation or beyond.  And familybusinesscenter.com calculates the average life span as 24 years.

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What Would It Mean for Your Business?

Illinois voters will have the opportunity on Election Day, November 8, to vote “yea” or “nay” on an amendment to the state constitution that would protect workers’ rights to collectively bargain, while prohibiting state legislators from making Illinois a “right to work” state, in which workers in unionized workplaces can decide individually whether to join the union.  The Amendment should have no practical effect on small businesses since small businesses are generally not unionized.

Known popularly as the “Workers’ Rights Amendment”—although its official name is the more prosaic Illinois Amendment 1—the measure would amend the Bill of Rights Article of the Illinois Constitution to give employee the ability to bargain collectively, through representatives they select to negotiate wages, hours, working conditions, and worker safety.  The amendment, which received partisan support in both houses of the state legislature when it was approved for the ballot in May, also negates any local laws that prohibit this.

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Texts can be held against you in court.

Alex Jones lawyers (perhaps inadvertently) turned 2-years of texts to the lawyers for the Sandy Hook families. What would be the repercussions for the disclosure if the trial were in Illinois?

The parents of a 6-year-old child that was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting had requested in discovery that Alex Jones turn over all the emails that related to shooting. Jones previously testified that he had searched his phone for texts about the Sandy Hook School shooting and found none, but Jones’s lawyers proved otherwise.

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Repayment of Student Debt by Employers

Retaining employees, and attracting new ones, has always been at the forefront of employer’s minds, but never more so than right now.  An extension of the student loan repayment plan for employers is one attractive way to stabilize your workforce.

The CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) extended tax-free employer sponsored student loan repayment through 2025.  This means that employers can give each employee up to $5,250 of non-taxable money to pay off student loans per year.  The amount the employer contributes is deductible by the employer and it is not income to the employee.    It is the best situation for both employer and employee!

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