Marital Status

Marital Status discrimination in Illinois it is a violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act. You may not ask about or discriminate against an employee based on their marital status. This may seem like an insignificant detail but here is what can happen. First, some employers may have religious beliefs that prevent them from hiring a single mother or divorced person. Second, an employer may believe a married person is more stable and therefore a better hire.

In both of these instances the company would be violating the law.   And a person could file a claim with the Illinois Department of Human Rights (“IDHR“). Sometimes the discrimination is very subtle and very fact specific so it requires an experienced employment lawyer’s opinion and analysis. The difference between a small settlement and a large one is the ability of the lawyer to find evidence.

Whether you are single, married, divorced or living with another person, it is not the business of your employer. This is a right that many people don’t realize exists.   and I am happy to explain this right in more detail to you. The number of discrimination cases in Chicago seems to be on the rise and I believe this is the fact for the entire state of Illinois. Don’t let the company try to ask you about information they are not entitled to under the law. As an employee in Illinois you have guaranteed rights and the company may not take those rights away.

Many employers wrongly believe a single mother can’t do the job a married female with a family can do. This is a wrong assumption and illegal in Illinois. If you believe you are the victim of discrimination based on marital status you should speak with my office at once. Most of the time marital based discrimination takes place during a job interview or promotion review. So even though you don’t work for a company doesn’t mean you may not have a discrimination claim against that company. If you don’t get hired and believe it is because of marital status you may have a case.  This includes if you are single, a single mother or other marital status reason.  Contact my office to discuss.

I am even seeing more cases where employers are looking at employees Facebook accounts to learn information about employees. Much of the information they are learning could lead to a discrimination lawsuit. For example many Facebook profiles show a persons age, race, marital status, perhaps sexual orientation and religion. All of these categories are protected in Illinois under the law and the mere fact an employer is inquiring about them in my opinion is the basis of a discrimination claim. Make sure you protect all of your rights to non-discriminatory employment hiring practices and call my office for a free consultation.

My office gets calls from all types of discrimination cases and I am happy to discuss your legal issue–free of charge.  Peter doesn’t charge hourly to handle discrimination cases for plaintiffs.   And he only gets a fee if and when you recover any money. He has an office in Chicago, to better handle cases throughout the state of Illinois.  And has taken discrimination cases in front of all the Judges at the Human Rights Commission on both Springfield and Chicago.

Please email or call me at 312-505-5038 to discuss your employment issue or severance agreement. I will talk to you myself and not make you talk with a paralegal or secretary. If personal service is important to you, call me.