Winning Your Sexual Harassment Case At The Illinois Human Rights Commission
Well you filed your sexual harassment case at the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") in Chicago and they found substantial evidence. Now what do you do? Well unless you choose to file your case with in the local circuit court you will have a trial at the Illinois Human Rights Commission ("IHRC"). The IHRC is different in many ways from the local court so it takes experience and knowledge to navigate. At the IHRC an administrative law judge will hear and decide the case not a jury. I believe this is a good thing because the judge is experienced in hearing employment law cases exclusively and this will work to your advantage.
There is another reason why the IHRC is a good venue for taking your sexual harassment case. There are no depositions unless ordered by the judge-which doesn't happen often. This keeps the cost of litigation down and puts more pressure on companies because they can't use their advantage of bigger pockets. In my experience most cases settle at the IHRC because the companies don't like paying attorney fees and don't like the uncertainty of not having depositions. It is important for victims of discrimination to realize they have a good option by taking a case to the IHRC.
