Posted on April 04, 2025 in Sexual Harassment

Remote workplace sexual harassment can take many forms, such as a remote worker sending inappropriate text or e-mail messages, unwelcome or unwanted video calls with a sexual overtone, or social media messages to another remote worker. These forms of sexual harassment may also come from a supervisor to a remote worker.

Sexual harassment is much less visible among remote workers, with witnesses to the harassment rare. Those who are sexually harassed in a remote work situation, as well as employers of remote workers claiming sexual harassment, may not be entirely sure how to handle the situation. The best course of action is to speak to an experienced Wheaton, IL sexual harassment lawyer.

How Can Employers of Remote Workers Prevent Sexual Harassment?

It is important that employers who have remote workers foster a culture of respect, which should be reinforced through regular education and training.  Even though workers are remote, each worker is required to be trained, under Illinois law,  regardless of whether he or she is based in Illinois.

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 Posted on April 04, 2025 in Family Law

Jerry and Sue divorced several years ago. Since Jerry moved to a neighboring state after the divorce, Sue was given the right to make decisions on behalf of their son, Cody, under the allocation of parental responsibilities. Jerry has parenting time one weekend per month, but now that Cody is a teenager, scheduling conflicts mean he sees Cody every two or three months.

Jerry receives a call from Sue telling Cody and some friends vandalized a neighbor’s property. Under the Illinois Parental Responsibility Statute, Cody’s parents are responsible for covering the costs of the vandalism. Since Jerry rarely sees Cody and had no idea that Cody had been in some minor trouble for graffiti prior to this, he feels he should not be responsible for the costs.

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 Posted on April 04, 2025 in Family Law

Virtually every divorce comes with its own set of challenges. A divorcing couple who has frozen embryos, known as assisted reproduction technology (ART), may have even bigger challenges. The 2015 Illinois Parentage Act provides guidelines for resolving ART disputes, defining legal parentage, and clarifying the rights of genetic contributors and the intended parents.

However, for a divorcing couple, the questions may include whether the frozen embryos are treated as children or whether they are considered "property." While Illinois law does offer certain guidelines, each case is unique and will depend on the specific circumstances. If you and your spouse are divorcing and you are unsure how frozen embryos will be addressed during the divorce, speak to a knowledgeable Wheaton, IL family law attorney for guidance.

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 Posted on March 27, 2025 in Sexual Harassment

During COVID-19, American workers and American businesses had to rethink the way their employees worked. Before the pandemic, some companies had already begun trending toward remote work. After realizing remote work had been a success, many companies continued having their employees work remotely, while some went to a hybrid of some days in the office and some working from home.

Today, remote work remains a significant part of the employment landscape, and as remote work technologies continue to develop, this trend is likely to grow. While remote work offers flexibility for employees and lower overhead costs - along with a potentially broader talent pool - for employers, there are some remaining challenges. One of these is how to address sexual harassment in a workplace that is either partially or largely remote.

Sexual harassment can be both more subtle as well as less visible for remote workers compared to in-office settings where there are other employees who can observe inappropriate behavior. If you are a remote worker who has experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, speaking to an experienced Wheaton, IL, sexual harassment lawyer can help you decide what your next step should be.  

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 Posted on March 27, 2025 in Divorce

Perhaps you and your spouse divorced a year or so ago, and he is paying child support for your four young children. He has parenting time with the children and has been very good about paying child support and keeping the children on his health insurance plan through his employer. An unexpected accident ends in his death. While you may be devastated that your children have lost their other parent, you are also apprehensive about how you will support your children on your own, absent child support and health insurance.

Is the parent’s estate responsible for child support? The death of a spouse who pays spousal support usually ends that support, absent an agreement to the contrary. Child support is usually considered a different matter, as there is a strong public policy protecting minor children. If you need assistance determining whether your ex-spouse’s estate will be responsible for continuing to pay child support, speak to a knowledgeable Wheaton, IL family law attorney.  

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 Posted on March 27, 2025 in Divorce

Divorce can be a long, difficult, emotional road that is full of uncertainty for many. For some couples, divorce is just as full of disagreements and arguments as their marriage was, and the only thing they want is to have it over and done. For others, divorce is just incredibly sad. After all, this is the person they were once in love with and expected to spend the rest of their life with.

Regardless of whether the divorce is contentious, heart-breaking, or one of the few that is relatively friendly, the death of one spouse during the divorce can bring an entirely new set of emotions. Everything changes when your spouse dies during the divorce. Even something as simple as dealing with expressions of condolence from others can leave you filled with uncertainty. How do you grieve someone you were in the middle of divorcing, especially if the two of you were not even on good terms?

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 Posted on March 17, 2025 in Divorce

The concept of Parental Alienation Syndrome began in 1985 as a term used during child custody (now known as the allocation of parental responsibility) cases that referred to a situation where one parent manipulated a child to reject the other parent. When parental alienation occurs, the child feels forced to choose one parent over the other.

Parental alienation may be a way for the alienating parent to "get even" with the other parent for real or perceived affronts that occurred during the marriage or to secure a larger share of parenting time. The ultimate goal of parental alienation is to harm the other parent, but when a child is taught to be hostile to, fearful of, or to reject his or her parent, it can have a profoundly harmful psychological impact on the child involved and is not a behavior that should be ignored or taken lightly. If you are a parent facing parental alienation, it is important that you speak to an experienced Wheaton, IL family law attorney.

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 Posted on March 17, 2025 in Divorce

Many married couples are both covered under one health insurance plan, usually through one of the spouse’s employers. When both spouses work, they may choose the employer who offers the best insurance plan for themselves and their children. The spouse who has health insurance through his or her employer is the "policy holder." The employee's spouse and children are known as "dependents" or "family members." A divorce can change how each spouse and the children are covered.

Both spouses can remain covered under an existing health insurance policy until the divorce is final. Once the divorce is completed, the former spouse is no longer considered a "family member" and may no longer remain on the insurance policy. If the dependent spouse cannot obtain insurance through his or her own workplace, insurance could be secured through the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, or Medicare (depending on age).

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 Posted on March 17, 2025 in Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII. The EEOC received 27,291 charges alleging sexual harassment in the workplace between 2018 and 2021. About 78.2 percent of all sexual harassment charges in the workplace are filed by women.

While sexual harassment in the workplace adversely affects the lives of thousands of people in the United States each and every year, it is actually rarely reported. About 60 percent of women say they have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace (nine out of ten women in industries like the food service industry), yet only about 15 percent of women file a formal legal claim over incidences of sexual harassment, and 70 percent never even complain internally.

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 Posted on February 25, 2025 in Divorce

In Illinois, both parties must have proper notice of a divorce. In practice, this means that the spouse who files for divorce with a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage must ensure his or her spouse receives the Petition and has the opportunity to reply. This is known as due process and must be strictly followed in virtually all legal proceedings, including divorce.

But what if your spouse is evading service because he or she does not want a divorce, or is simply being difficult? If you are unsure how you are legally required to have your spouse served with the Petition for Dissolution, or he or she is evading service, speaking to an experienced St. Charles, IL family law attorney can be helpful.  

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