The U.S. Department of Education has created a “new, proactive” civil rights compliance center within its Office for Civil Rights. The Department describes the Outreach, Prevention, Education and Non-discrimination, or OPEN, Center as an effort to “support[ ] school districts, colleges, […]
Both the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have published interim guidance for employers on planning for and protecting their workplaces from exposure to and infection with COVID-19, more commonly referred […]
Is your school threat assessment team in place and ready to act in order to meet upcoming legal deadlines? Does it understand the interaction between threat assessments and special education evaluations? Is it adequately prepared so that your school will […]
An Illinois appellate court recently clarified the outer limits of the controversial “inevitable disclosure doctrine” under the Illinois Trade Secrets Act. Archer Daniels Midland Company (“ADM”), a sweetener manufacturer and distributor, moved for a preliminary injunction against its former employee, […]
The risk of coronavirus may be lower than the flu, but with the numbers of cases and fatalities growing in China and a handful of cases in the United States, some are calling for schools, colleges, and universities to take […]
A recent Illinois State Board of Education hearing officer decision upheld the dismissal of a tenured teacher who engaged in off-topic rants in the classroom, stored pornographic images on a district laptop, and refused to undergo a fitness for duty […]
In 2019, the Illinois General Assembly enacted, and Governor Pritzker signed into law, P.A. 101-0221, containing sweeping new measures to combat workplace harassment. (Our earlier summaries are available here.) One of the new requirements in that law was a mandate […]
A recent profile of Franczek P.C. founding partner and President Jim Franczek highlights lessons learned during his 25 years as the chief labor negotiator for the City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools. The article provides insights from Jim on […]
