ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL HIGHLIGHTS HIS OFFICE’S EFFORTS TO PROTECT WORKERS IN ANNUAL LABOR DAY REPORT

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL HIGHLIGHTS HIS OFFICE'S EFFORTS TO PROTECT WORKERS IN ANNUAL LABOR DAY REPORT

August 30, 2024

Chicago - Heading into Labor Day weekend, Attorney General Kwame Raoul highlighted a new report detailing actions his office has taken during the past year to advocate for and protect Illinois workers.

The Attorney General's Workplace Rights Bureau was codified in state statute in 2020 and has since collected more than $8.7 million in owed wages for workers and collected $930,000 in penalties against companies alleged to have discriminated against workers on the basis of race or sex.

"I am committed to continuing to fight for workers' rights," Raoul said. "I encourage anyone with questions or concerns about their workplace to reach out to my office's Workplace Rights Bureau. Our bilingual attorneys and staff are happy to provide information and make sure that workers know their rights and have a place to turn if they need help upholding Illinois labor laws."

The Workplace Rights Bureau advances the employment rights of all Illinois residents by taking actions, such as investigating labor law violations, collecting owed wages and civil penalties, filing lawsuits to protect Illinois workers, and advocating for stronger legal protections for workers.

This year, Raoul led the effort to pass a law that will significantly increase the Attorney General's office's ability to protect witnesses and other whistleblowers from workplace retaliation for reporting violations of the law. The new statute, which was signed into law in August, will increase the damages and penalties workers may seek and broaden the scope of conduct protected under the Illinois Whistleblower Act.

The Workplace Rights Bureau won a significant legal victory for workers in January when the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of workers in a case where staffing agencies, Elite Staffing Inc. (Elite), Metro Staff Inc. (Metro Staff), and Midway Staffing Inc. (Midway), had a no-poach agreement facilitated by the agencies' client company, Colony Display LLC (Colony). The Supreme Court ruled that the labor market was not exempt from the Illinois Antitrust Act and the agreement between the defendants, as alleged, was so anticompetitive that it violated antitrust law.

The Attorney General's office reached settlements with Colony and Elite. Attorney General Raoul's 2024 Labor Day report, which is also available in Spanish, highlights these settlements along with other recent settlements the office has obtained on behalf of Illinois workers:

• In November 2023, Attorney General Raoul announced a settlement with Colony to resolve allegations that it engaged in a wage-fixing and no-poach scheme with three of its staffing agencies. In July 2024, Raoul resolved those same allegations with one of Colony's staffing agencies, Elite. Under the settlement, Colony agreed to pay $1.2 million. Elite agreed to pay $1.5 million to help compensate workers impacted by the unlawful activity and agreed to notify workers of their rights and prevent similar violations at Colony and other Elite client sites.
  
  
• In January 2024, The Attorney General's office announced an agreement with trucking companies, Velasco Enterprises Inc. and Partner's Hauling Inc., and their owner, Juan Velasco, to pay drivers $335,000 for unpaid time spent driving between worksites and failure to pay overtime and prevailing wage rates for public projects. In addition to agreeing to pay owed wages, the companies agreed to follow heightened record keeping requirements designed to prevent future violations of the law.

• In December 2023, Attorney General Raoul announced a settlement requiring Greenridge Farm Inc., a deli meat processing company, to pay $3 million in stolen back wages and damages to more than 280 current and former employees. Employees were able to recover nearly 2.5 times their owed wages and, as part of the agreement, Greenridge overhauled its payroll process to ensure that it tracks and pays all hours worked.

Raoul's Workplace Rights Bureau also advocates for important labor and employment law improvements by drafting amicus briefs and commenting on proposed regulatory changes, often in collaboration with other state attorneys general. The Attorney General's office joined coalitions of attorneys general calling for an end to non-compete clauses nationwide and challenging no-poach provisions used by department stores and in franchise agreements.

Raoul also joined fellow state attorneys general in support of overtime protections for salaried workers and workers' rights to receive prevailing wages on renewable energy and green economy projects where employers claim expanded tax credits.

Attorney General Raoul encourages workers who wish to file a complaint about an employer's potentially unlawful practices to call the Workplace Rights Hotline at 1-844-740-5076 or visit the Attorney General's website.