My office handle employment discrimination cases involving the areas listed below, including sexual harassment. I never charge for an employment law initial consultation. If you are the victim of workplace discrimination please read more about how I can help and call or email my office to discuss your case. Because there is never a charge to discuss your initial case, there really isn’t a reason to deal with your employment problem on your own. The company has many resources at its disposal to help protect their interests, you should have an experienced Chicago employment lawyer helping you. Remember that if you wait too long to act, you may be prevented from bringing an action against the company due to the statute of limitations. Generally speaking, you have 300 days from the date of last discrimination to file your complaint.
I also represent employers and small business owners in claims of discrimination or sexual harassment. I can help with employment agreements, severance packages and employment investigations and policies. My office handles all employment law related matters.
I practice aggressively in front of the Illinois Department of Human Rights (“IDHR“), the Illinois Human Rights Commission (“IHRC“), the Chicago Commission on Human Relations (“CCHR“) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC“). Peter also practices in state court and federal court. He is a member of the trial bar in the Northern District of Illinois so I can take your case all the way to trial. There is never a charge or fee unless I recover money for you subject to our signed agreement. What this means to you is that if I decide to take your case I believe in the case because I will only get paid if you do.
Employers in Illinois and especially in Chicago are getting more aggressive and blatant in their violation of workplace rules and laws. Hostile work environments are on the rise and workers are under assault. My employment law office see more cases on retaliation when employees try to protect their employment law rights. It is illegal for your employer to take any negative job action against you for complaining about discrimination. A negative job action could include a demotion, being passed over for promotion, a bad performance review, an increased workload or getting fired.
Many times your employer will be subtle and the discrimination will not be well documented. It is important to learn how to get evidence of the discrimination before you are fired. Things like emails, text messages, voice messages and work schedules are all things which could help your case. If there is a lawsuit, those items can be obtained through subpoena however, that could be a year of so in the future.
There are things you can do now to protect your rights. One thing you can do is to obtain a copy of your employment file from human resources. By law your employer must give you a copy of your file. Make sure you ask for a copy of the file cover including the front, back and inside covers. Many times human resources will write comments or notes on the file cover and you will want this information.
If you get fired you should immediately file for unemployment. Don’t wait or be afraid to file. Many times an employer will say that you can’t collect so don’t bother filing. Let the Illinois Department of Employment Security (“IDES”) tell you that you can’t file. Under the law in Illinois everyone employee can file for benefits if they quit or are fired. Whether you are able to collect those unemployment benefits will be a matter decided by the IDES. If you are able to collect unemployment benefits, this may turn out to be a substantial amount. Even if you get denied benefits, you can appeal the decision. If you lose the appeal it is still good because you made an attempt to mitigate your lost wage damage.
My Chicago office is getting many more calls this year about hostile work environments than ever before. There are strict time limits that apply to your employment discrimination case so act fast. Make time for an important phone call regarding your rights. I answer my own telephone and gladly speak with people regarding their employment issues. If you wait too long to act I may not be able to help you.
There are many remedies available to employees or former employees who are the victims of employment discrimination. You can get back wages, future wages, money for medical bills including mental therapy. Also you can obtain money for benefits lost, attorney fees and money for emotional distress. One can also obtain an order forbidding the company from doing business with the government for up to three years. And have the government contracts terminated with the company. I am happy to discuss all of the available options.
