Support House Bill 1509 - Give Employment Discrimination Victims Their Day in Court

The bill is scheduled for a hearing THIS Wednesday, May 2, 2007! Call your state senator today and urge them to support HB1509!

HB1509, the bill that would provide a right to trial under the Illinois Human Rights Act, has passed in the Illinois House and has been assigned to the State Government Administration Committee for a hearing. HB 1509 would provide victims of assault and victims of sexual orientation discrimination with their ONLY route to file suit and to receive a jury trial for their claims against small employers.

Under current law, the only state remedy for a person who has suffered employment discrimination is to file an administrative action starting with the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) and then with the Illinois Human Rights Commission (IHRC). In this process, victims have limited access to certain tools that could help them prove their case. They have no ability to take depositions of witnesses or request documents from their employer. They are rarely allowed hearings before the Commission and do not have the right to a jury trial.

The bill is scheduled for a hearing THIS Wednesday, May 2, 2007. PLEASE call your state senator and ask for their support of this bill. You can find the contact information for your senator by clicking on the following link:

http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/AddressSearch.aspx

Take Legislative Action – Support the Illinois Family Leave Insurance Program (HB3470)

Illinois Paid Leave Coalition - Making Workplaces Fairer

Too many workers can’t afford to take time off to handle their own serious illness, that of a family member, or to care for a new child. Join Chicago NOW, Women Employed, and the Illinois Paid Leave Coalition’s efforts to pass an affordable family leave policy in Illinois.

WHAT: Support the Illinois Paid Leave Coalition and the Illinois Family Leave Insurance Program (HB3470).

QUESTIONS: Find out more about what you can do to support the Illinois Paid Leave Coalition by clicking this link:

http://www.womenemployed.org/index.php?id=121

Contact your representatives – let them know you don’t tolerate discrimination against transgendered individuals!

On Tuesday, April 17th, 2007, several Illinois lawmakers mocked sex changes and the idea of debating the subject before rejecting a measure that would have made it easier to get a new birth certificate after switching genders. Rep. Bill Black (R – Danville) compared sex changes to voodoo and joked that he had thought about getting one so he wouldn\'t have to shave. Rep. Chapin Rose (R – Mahomet) suggested the House could be debating more important matters. Rep. Art Turner (D – Chicago), while presiding over the debate, spoke in a falsetto as he called for a vote. The legislation failed 32-78. It would have made it easier for people to change the gender on their birth certificate after undergoing a sex change in another country. Illinois law already allows birth certificates to be changed if the patient produces an affidavit from the doctor who performed the procedure. But affidavits from foreign doctors are not recognized, said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D – Chicago).

Please take the time to email your state representatives. Let them know that this behavior is unacceptable and that it discriminates against transgendered individuals. You can find the contact information for your senator by clicking on the following link: http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/AddressSearch.aspx