Villalobos & Associates

08/27/2021

In the first case of its type in Illinois, the Appellate Court Ruled that Hobby Lobby violated the Illinois Human Rights act by denying one of its transgender employees the use of the woman's bathroom.

Meggan Sommerville, worked at Hobby Lobby for years before transitioning from male to female. She changed her name and gender on her driver's license and social security card, and underwent medical treatment to look more like a female. Despite all this, Hobby Lobby denied her the use of the women's bathroom and directed its employees to report if they saw her using it. Hobby Lobby repeatedly changed what it wanted in order to allow her to use the women's bathroom, demanding "legal authority", requiring a birth certificate, and requiring that she undergo surgery. Hobby Lobby even went so far as to install a unis*x bathroom in the store instead of granting her access to the women's bathroom.

She resorted to waiting to use the bathroom until break, walking 10 minutes to a different nearby store, or sneaking into the women's bathroom when nobody else was around. Because of this, she started having nightmares about bathrooms and suffered physical symptoms like headaches, fatigue, muscle cramps, gastric problems, and dehydration from limiting her fluid intake.

The Appellate Court held that the Illinois Human Rights Act was amended in 2006 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of s*xual orientation and gender identity. The new wording of the law defines "s*x" as the "status of being male or female", which can change much like a person's marital status can change. The court upheld an award of damages of $220,000 and ordered Hobby Lobby to allow Sommerville to be able to use the women's bathroom.

In this case, Sommerville took several steps in her transition to female. What is unclear is how many of those steps, or which ones, if any, will be sufficient for a person to change their "status of being male or female." How will courts decide other cases that aren't so clear cut? Is it enough for an employee to tell their employer that they are transitioning or will courts require more of a long-term showing?

11/10/2020

Drink and ride at your own risk!

Courts keep holding that CTA employees don't have to watch over intoxicated people to make sure they don't hurt themselves.

In Daniel v. Chicago Transit Authority, 2020 IL App (1st) 190479, a drunk man fell asleep and eventually died of acute alcohol toxicity on a CTA bus. The court held that the driver did not have a responsibility to constantly watch over him and make sure he was okay and had no reason to think he was in danger since he had been talking to other people and walking around during the ride.

This decision is nothing new and in line with the holding in Anderson v. Chicago Transit Authority, 2019 IL App (1st) 181564, where a drunk man was stumbling around on an L platform, stepped on the bottle he had been drinking from, and then fell onto the third rail, electrocuting himself. There, the court held that the CTA had no reason to take special notice of him and protect him because, "to state the obvious, the bus station and train platforms of Chicago have plenty of people who are not acting in an entirely normal way, so decedent’s behavior, even if specifically observed, would not look that out-of-place at an ‘L’ station."

So, don't expect anyone to watch out for you if you're riding public transit after you've had too many.

09/25/2020

Illinois Appellate courts have been on it during the pandemic and have been criticizing defense attorneys and even the trial courts in cases where defense attorneys filed and won a "Motion to Quash Arrest", usually in cases where police discover contraband like drugs or guns on the arrested person. In one recent case, People v. Patel, 2020 IL App (4th)190917, the court said, "we would be remiss if we did not note, once again, our disapproval of the practice of filing meaningless motions “to quash arrest” when the true purpose of the motion is to suppress evidence."

The defense attorneys and the trial courts should realize that the real purpose of these motions is not to invalidate the arrest, but to suppress any evidence gained as a result of an illegal arrest. The proper motion is a motion to suppress, not to quash arrest. Don't be led down the wrong path in your defense; filing the wrong type of motion can lead to losing your motion and the case, or winning a motion, only to have it reversed on appeal.

03/22/2020

We’re still here to help you!
The Illinois Shelter in Place order defines legal services as “essential,” so we are still open Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm to help you.

You still have rights to protect and criminal courts are still conducting bond hearings, preliminary hearings, and other matters that can drastically affect your rights and your case.

We are concerned about health, too, so we have several options for meeting and retaining us electronically or over the phone. We also monitor our email 24/7, so you can still email us at [email protected] to set up an appointment or a consultation.

09/27/2019

It can be frustrating for those who have paid their debt to society to run into arbitrary roadblocks to employment.

More employers are committed to getting talent back to work by considering qualified individuals with criminal backgrounds.

09/24/2019

Our office is always ready to help whoever you send our way!

09/11/2019

Today we remember those who died, those who served, and those who carry on.

09/09/2019

Face surveillance technology poses unique risks to people’s privacy and safety.

On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the first appellate court in the nation to directly address the privacy harms posed by face recognition technology. The decision is a significant advance in the fight against the threats of face surveillance, sounding the alarm on t...

09/05/2019

Don't take chances with your future; hire a criminal defense attorney. Contact us today to get started.

09/02/2019

We hope you’re celebrating your hard work with a little time off. Happy Labor Day!

08/26/2019

Interested in pursuing a degree in criminal justice? Here's what you need to know.

A criminal justice major learns research methods for criminology, criminological theory and the psychology behind criminal behavior.