Events

To register for March Lunch & Learn: Click here

To register for April Lunch & Learn: Click here

Lunch and Learn Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Series 

Instructions for Joining a Webex Meeting

In July 2019, the Illinois Human Rights Commission launched its monthly "Lunch and Learn" Continuing Legal Education (CLE) series.  Lunch and Learn features leading law firms and practitioners in the fields of civil rights, employment and housing law, and categories protected by the Illinois Human Rights Act, addressing fellow Illinois attorneys on topics such as emerging trends in the law, significant cases and news, and highlights or summaries of changes to the law.  All presenters and attendees receive appropriate Illinois CLE credit, and the Commission handles all administrative planning and paperwork.  Based on the written evaluation forms, attorneys have found the presentations to date informative and the presenters impressive.  In short, the Lunch and Learn program has been well received in the legal community and has filled a need for additional education in civil rights, employment and housing law, and the Illinois Human Rights Act, which benefits all.

• April 19, 2023 Lunch & Learn: 2023 Fair Housing Update
• March 23, 2023 Lunch & Learn: Is Disability a Part of Diversity? Lawyers with Disabilities Respond
• February 23, 2023 Lunch & Learn: Understanding the New Source of Income Protection: Illinois Fair Housing Update
• January 25, 2023 Lunch & Learn: The Bermuda Triangle: FMLA, ADA and Worker's Comp
• November 15, 2022 Lunch & Learn: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace: Growing Trends and Legal Consideration
  
• October 25, 2022, Lunch & Learn: Are My Remote Employees Covered by the FMLA? Ajusting to the New Normal
  
• June 14, 2022, Lunch & Learn: An Update on the Law and Emerging Issues
  
• May 3, 2022, Lunch & Learn: Recent Updates in Employment Law
  
• April 13, 2022, Lunch & Learn: Workplace Bullying 2022: The Legal Impact of #BLM, COVID-19, DEI, Politics & More
  
• March 17, 2022, Lunch & Learn: Legal Movement for Reparations in Illinois
  
• February 15, 2022, Lunch & Learn: COVID-19 and Employment
  
• November 18, 2021, Lunch & Learn: Domestic Violence: An Employer's Obligation Once Reported
  
• October 7, 2021, Lunch & Learn: Civil Rights Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Racial and Religious Minorities
  
• September 24, 2021, Lunch & Learn: ADA & Pregnancy in the Workplace
  
• June 23, 2021, Lunch & Learn: Criminal Convictions and Equal Pay and EEO Reporting, Oh My! A Zoo of New Employment Obligations for Illinois Employers
• May 11, 2021, Lunch & Learn: No Longer Locked Out: The Rights of People with Criminal Records in Real Estate
• April 20, 2021, Lunch & Learn: Illinois Address Confidentiality Program

• February 25, 2021, Lunch & Learn: Fair Housing and the Pandemic: An Update on Law and Emerging Issues

• January 26, 2021, Lunch & Learn: The Path of a Discrimination Charge Under the Illinois Human Rights Act.

• September 22, 2020, Lunch & Learn: Hot Topics in Reasonable Accommodations under the Fair Housing Act
• August 17, 2020, Lunch & Learn: Accused, Still Presumably Innocent, but Fired Anyway: Arrest Record Discrimination in Illinois and Elsewhere
• July 21, 2020 Lunch & Learn: Legal Proceedings in a Virtual World: Hearings, Depositions and Trials in the age of COVID-19
• February 4, 2020 Lunch & Learn: Providing Culturally Responsive Legal Services for LGBT Elder
• January 13, 2020 Lunch & Learn: On Account of Sex: An Update on the Equal Rights Amendment, Possible Passage, and its Impact on Human Rights in Illinois

• November 18, 2019 Lunch & Learn: The Impact of Immigration Status in Employment Law

• October 21, 2019 Lunch & Learn: Emerging Trends in Disability Discrimination in Employment

• September 16, 2019 Lunch & Learn: Workplace Bullying: Legal Implication & Exposure
• August 19, 2019 Lunch & Learn: Unlawful Discrimination in the Workplace: An Employee Advocate's Perspective
• July 22, 2019 Lunch & Learn: Arbitration Agreement Between Employer & Employees

Greetings!

IHRC's Civil Rights Annual Summit was held on Thursday, December 3, 2020, in a virtual format.

Click here to view the materials from the Summit

The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR), in partnership with the Illinois Human Rights Commission (IHRC), celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA). The Celebration intentionally coincided with the United Nations International Human Rights Day to bring attention to the historic Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

During a widely attended reception at the Chicago Regional Carpenters Hall, IDHR Director James L. Bennett, IHRC Chair Jim Ferg-Cadima and Governor JB Pritzker presented the inaugural Illinois Human Rights Awards to Illinois General Assembly veteran Barbara Flynn Currie - the chief legislative architect of the IHRA - for exemplary service advancing human rights.

Governor JB Pritzker, the keynote speaker at the event, gave an official State of State for Human Rights in Illinois where he touted several key progressive achievements made during his tenure like investing in health care access, opening opportunities for economic development, enshrining reproductive rights, and shielding the state's immigrant communities.

"It's been forty years since Illinois established one of the nation's most progressive approaches to human rights in the nation when it passed the Human Rights Act," said Governor JB Pritzker. "But that achievement stands out not for its extraordinary nature, but because it's a landmark of the exact caliber that has for so long defined Illinois' role in bending the arc toward justice."

"Under this prolific legislation, we protect everyone in Illinois, no matter your sex, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, and several other protected classes," said IDHR Director Jim Bennett. "The Illinois Human Rights Act is truly one of the most progressive, inclusive, and expansive pieces of legislation in the country and, here at the Department of Human Rights, we are honored to enforce, defend, and advance it every day."

The celebration commemorated the December 6th, 1979 singing of the Illinois Human Rights Act by then-Governor James R. Thompson, creating the most expansive civil rights coverage for the people of Illinois in the history of the State of Illinois. During the event, Governor JB Pritzker issued a proclamation in support of the IHRA 40th Anniversary and International Human Rights Day in Illinois.

On November 12, 2019, the Illinois Human Rights Commission (IHRC) hosted a summit to celebrate 40 years of the Illinois Human Rights Act (Summit). At the Summit, IHRC honored four trailblazers in the field of human rights and held panel discussions on a host of issues front and center in the Illinois human rights debate, such as race and disability and policing, LGBTQ+ discrimination in Illinois, and sexual harassment in the workplace.

*2 hours of CLE credit were approved for Illinois attorneys

• IHRC Inaugural Summit Slide Show
  

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Requests for Reasonable Accommodations: Services at the Illinois Human Rights Commission are accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities in compliance with the Illinois Human Rights Act. A person with a disability needing an accommodation to participate in any Commission activities should contact the Commission Disability Access Coordinator at 312-814-6269 or (TTY) 866-832-2298 or at HRC.NEWS@illinois.gov. The Commission requires five (5) business days to review any reasonable accommodation.