Winning Your Age Discrimination Lawsuit At The Illinois Human Rights Commission
So you filed your age discrimination lawsuit with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") and received your notice of substantial evidence. Now what are you suppose to do? Well you can proceed on your own and file a complaint with the Illinois Human Rights Commission ("IHRC") for trial. Remember there won't be a jury trial but rather a trial in front of an administrative law judge. The good news about proceeding with the IHRC is the cost is free. Also there is a limited version of discovery that usually doesn't involve depositions--which can get expensive.
Age discrimination cases are usually won by the numbers. What I mean by that is usually someone isn't going to put derogatory statements about someones age in writing. You will generally have to prove the case by showing statistically younger workers are being given favorable treatment over older workers. The age cut-off is age 40. It is very important that you know how to proceed at the IHRC and can properly draft discovery and properly answer the discovery that the company will send to you. For this reason you should consult with an experienced and aggressive employment law attorney.
