Belleville Illinois Legal Blog

What makes a workplace accommodation reasonable?

On behalf of The Law Office of Van-Lear P. Eckert, PC posted in Employment Law on Thursday, July 11, 2019.

Individuals of different physical and mental abilities have the capacity to enrich and improve their places of employment. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, some American workplaces are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities and must provide them with reasonable accommodations so that they may do their work. Illinois residents who wish to understand if and how the law applies to their employers may wish to contact their local employment law attorneys. This post should not be read or used as legal advice.

Reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act are not black and white. Different individuals of different needs may require very divergent accommodations in order to facilitate their workplace requirements. There are several factors that should be considered to determine if a sought after accommodation is reasonable.

Greater drunk driving patrols planned, but wrecks may happen

On behalf of The Law Office of Van-Lear P. Eckert, PC posted in Personal Injury on Friday, July 5, 2019.

Holidays are busy times for the police, For instance, every year during the 4th of July week, law enforcement officials throughout Illinois step up their efforts to catch drunk drivers before they cause serious and life-changing motor vehicle accidents. Though many individuals make responsible choices and find safe ways of getting home after celebrating with friends, family members, and alcohol, too many wrongly assess their abilities to drive and get behind the wheels of their cars while drunk. When drivers operate intoxicated, they can make poor decisions that put themselves and others in the way of serious harm.

That is because alcohol dulls a driver's ability to see, react, and overcome obstacles in their paths. A driver who has been drinking may not be able to think clearly and may not have the full use of their coordination. Drinking can cause a driver to hallucinate and see things where there is actually nothing, and alcohol can also cause a driver to experience fatigue which can impact their ability to be a safe motorist.

Who is responsible for a slip and fall accident?

On behalf of The Law Office of Van-Lear P. Eckert, PC posted in Personal Injury on Thursday, June 27, 2019.

Illinois residents experience falls every day. While some may lose their balance and cause harm to their bodies through their own clumsiness, others may lose their footing and suffer falls because of the negligent actions of others. Slip and fall injuries can be painful, debilitating and sometimes even fatal.

The legal theory of premises liability allows people to recover compensation for their damages after they have been injured due to the negligence of a property owner who failed to protect them from dangerous conditions.

Protect your kids from unsafe amusement park rides

On behalf of The Law Office of Van-Lear P. Eckert, PC on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.

Illinois parents often struggle with finding activities in which to engage their kids on the long summer days that stretch into warm, starlit evenings. One popular pastime is to load up the kids and head to an amusement park or local fair or carnival.

Most children, tweens and teens love to spin and flip around on the rides that can swoop down from dizzying heights only to soar skyward once again. But how safe are these rides?

How to recognize retaliation in the workplace

On behalf of The Law Office of Van-Lear P. Eckert, PC posted in Employment Law on Thursday, June 20, 2019.

Retaliation is a harmful practice that some employers undertake against their employees. It can involve causing their employees to miss out on employment benefits, denying them promotions or raises, subjecting them to terminations, and many other forms of adverse conduct. An Illinois resident who suspects that they are the victim of workplace retaliation should seek legal assistance to protect their livelihood and to stop the actions of their employer.

Employers who engage in retaliation often do so because the employees undertook actions that were contrary to the interests of the employers. For example, if an employee filed a discrimination claim against their employer, that employer may choose to retaliate against them as a deterrent to other employees contemplating similar actions.

When pain lingers after a personal injury accident

On behalf of The Law Office of Van-Lear P. Eckert, PC posted in Personal Injury on Friday, June 14, 2019.

When confronted with an accident and suffering from a sudden and traumatic wound, an Illinois resident may experience the overwhelming sensation of shock.

Shock is the body's response to stress, and it undergoes physical transformations to protect itself from further harm and damage. When the body is in shock, it may not feel the pain it would otherwise experience and it exhibit strength that it should not otherwise have.

What should doctors do to prevent surgical errors?

On behalf of The Law Office of Van-Lear P. Eckert, PC posted in Personal Injury on Thursday, June 6, 2019.

Surgical errors are a major cause of medical malpractice cases. When a doctor performs the wrong surgery on a patient, their negligence may constitute a breach of their duty and form a basis for a personal injury claim. Though policies may vary from hospital to hospital, American surgical providers have adopted a set of procedures to follow to help them from committing these egregious errors.

Known as the Universal Protocol, these procedures outline three steps that surgeons, hospital workers, and other care providers should undertake to protect themselves and their patients from erroneous surgeries. The first of the procedures involves an extensive pre-surgery review of what procedure is ordered and on what patient.

Filing EEOC claims in a timely matter is important

On behalf of The Law Office of Van-Lear P. Eckert, PC posted in Employment Law on Thursday, May 30, 2019.

Experiencing workplace discrimination can be painful, upsetting, and downright demoralizing. However, many Illinois residents who experience it feel trapped because they do not want to or cannot leave their jobs in order to make the harassment and ill treatment stop. Workplace discrimination is therefore a double-edged sword that harms individuals while they are at work but snares them in a system that makes it hard for them to get out.

When a person chooses to address the discrimination that they face in their place of employment, they will likely end up contacting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This government entity is charged with protecting the rights of workers from harassment and discrimination and upholds the laws that protect individuals of certain classifications from disparate treatment. The worker may discuss their problems with an EEOC representative and file a claim against their employer if they choose to do so.

Avoid these car insurance claim mistakes after a crash

On behalf of The Law Office of Van-Lear P. Eckert, PC on Saturday, May 25, 2019.

There's never a good time for a motor vehicle accident, but if you find yourself in this situation in Belleville it's critical to take the right steps. Your immediate attention should go toward stabilizing your health and treating your injuries. This will lead you to file an insurance claim as a means of seeking compensation.

Making a car insurance claim sounds simple, especially if you have a solid relationship with your agent. However, don't let your good relationship trick you into thinking that the insurance company is on your side.

What are common causes of motorcycle accidents?

On behalf of The Law Office of Van-Lear P. Eckert, PC posted in Personal Injury on Thursday, May 23, 2019.

Motorcycle accidents are an unfortunately common form of motor vehicle accident that can cause serious injuries to victims and can even result in fatalities. Illinois residents may be familiar with the structure and design of motorcycles and may therefore be able to understand why collisions involving motorcycles can become serious very fast: there are no roll bars or protective structures around motorcyclists to protect them.

Many motorcycle accidents are caused by the negligence of other drivers. Drivers who speed, allow distractions to affect them, or who drive intoxicated cause accidents with motorcycles just as they cause accidents with other cars, trucks, and SUVs. Additionally, though, many motorcycle accidents are caused by drivers who just do not see motorcycles in their driving vicinities; motorcycles are relatively small and often disappear into the blind spots of larger vehicles.