Brown Bag Lunch 3/9/10
3/9/10. Our next brown bag is March 9th at noon at 53 W. Jackson, 8th Fl. conference room. The topic is Stress Relief and Exercise for Lawyers. Our presenter will be Jeffrey Bush, M.S. in Kinesiology. We hope to see you there!

Unemployment Funding
3/2/10. Congress passed a one-month extension unemployment benefits which President Obama signed today, which means that Illinois will not experience an interruption in unemployment insurance benefit payments through April 5.

Turner v. Saloon, Ltd.
2/8/10. In plaintiff's employment discrimination suit against his former employer, the 7th Cir. reversed summary judgment in part as the district the court excluded most of the alleged instances of harassment as time-barred, contrary to Supreme Court precedent establishing that acts of harassment falling outside Title VII's statute of limitations may be considered as long as some act of harassment occurred within the limitations period. Turner v. Saloon, Ltd., No. 07-2449.
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NELA-IL Board
Congratulations to NELA-Illinois' new board and officers: President Alejandro Caffarelli, Vice President Antoinette Choate, Treasurer Libby Hubbard, Secretary Catherine Caporusso, Immediate Past President Megan O’Malley, Board Members Peter Carey, Kristin Case, Matthew Lango, David Lee, Mary Rose Strubbe, Lisa Williams, Bryan Wood, and Founders Penny Nathan Kahan and Michael Leech.

US Supreme Court Cert.
3/8/10. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in NASA v. Nelson, et al., 530 F.3d 865 (9th Cir. 2008). The question presented is whether NASA’s newly imposed criminal background checks are a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act or the contract employees’ informational privacy rights, or if it constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. For more on the underlying case, follow the link.
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7th Circuit Conference
2/15/10. Thank you to Judge Matthew Kennelly, our other panelists, and everyone else who helped make the 9th Annual Seventh Circuit NELA-IL Conference: How to Win Your Case in Discovery — Or, At Least, Not Lose It! a huge success. If you have suggestions for next year's conference, please email them to David Lee.
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ADA: 7th Cir. Holds No Mixed-Motive Liability
1/15/10. In Serwatka v. Rockwell Automation Inc., The 7th Cir. ruled out mixed-motive liability under the ADA, holding that 42 U.S.C. § 12117 incorporates into the ADA only the "powers, remedies, and procedures" of Title VII, not the mixed-motive liability section. No. 08-4010.
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Michael Lefkow Memorial Fund
In memory of our brother and friend, Michael Lefkow, the Michael Lefkow Memorial Fund has been established through Amalgamated Bank. Its purpose is to carry out litigation and educational work in Michael's name on behalf of government employees and victims of workplace unfairness and discrimination. Contributions may be mailed or wire transferred to Amalgamated Bank. For further information, contact Kay Zilka, Senior VP, Amalgamated Bank, Chicago.