Full Text of SB2878 93rd General Assembly
SB2878enr 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning human rights.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Illinois Human Rights Act is amended by | 5 |
| changing Section 10-101 and by adding Section 10-104 as | 6 |
| follows:
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| (775 ILCS 5/10-101) (from Ch. 68, par. 10-101)
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| Sec. 10-101. Applicability. With the exception of Section | 9 |
| 10-104, this
This Article shall apply solely to civil
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| arising under Article 3 of this Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 86-910.)
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| (775 ILCS 5/10-104 new) | 13 |
| Sec. 10-104. Circuit Court Actions by the Illinois Attorney | 14 |
| General. | 15 |
| (A) Standing, venue, limitations on actions, preliminary | 16 |
| investigations, notice, and Assurance of Voluntary Compliance. | 17 |
| (1) Whenever the Illinois Attorney General has | 18 |
| reasonable cause to believe that any person or group of | 19 |
| persons is engaged in a pattern and practice of | 20 |
| discrimination prohibited by this Act, the Illinois | 21 |
| Attorney General may commence a civil action in the name of | 22 |
| the People of the State, as parens patriae on behalf of | 23 |
| persons within the State to enforce the provisions of this | 24 |
| Act in any appropriate circuit court. Venue for this civil | 25 |
| action shall be determined under Section 8-111(B)(6). Such | 26 |
| actions shall be commenced no later than 2 years after the | 27 |
| occurrence or the termination of an alleged civil rights | 28 |
| violation or the breach of a conciliation agreement or | 29 |
| Assurance of Voluntary Compliance entered into under this | 30 |
| Act, whichever occurs last, to obtain relief with respect | 31 |
| to the alleged civil rights violation or breach. |
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| (2) Prior to initiating a civil action, the Attorney | 2 |
| General shall conduct a preliminary investigation to | 3 |
| determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that | 4 |
| any person or group of persons is engaged in a pattern and | 5 |
| practice of discrimination declared unlawful by this Act | 6 |
| and whether the dispute can be resolved without litigation. | 7 |
| In conducting this investigation, the Attorney General | 8 |
| may: | 9 |
| (a) require the individual or entity to file a | 10 |
| statement or report in writing under oath or otherwise, | 11 |
| as to all information the Attorney General may consider | 12 |
| necessary; | 13 |
| (b) examine under oath any person alleged to have | 14 |
| participated in or with knowledge of the alleged | 15 |
| pattern and practice violation; or | 16 |
| (c) issue subpoenas or conduct hearings in aid of | 17 |
| any investigation. | 18 |
| (3) Service by the Attorney General of any notice | 19 |
| requiring a person to file a statement or report, or of a | 20 |
| subpoena upon any person, shall be made: | 21 |
| (a) personally by delivery of a duly executed copy | 22 |
| thereof to the person to be served or, if a person is | 23 |
| not a natural person, in the manner provided in the | 24 |
| Code of Civil Procedure when a complaint is filed; or | 25 |
| (b) by mailing by certified mail a duly executed | 26 |
| copy thereof to the person to be served at his or her | 27 |
| last known abode or principal place of business within | 28 |
| this State. | 29 |
| (4) In lieu of a civil action, the individual or entity | 30 |
| alleged to have engaged in a pattern or practice of | 31 |
| discrimination deemed violative of this Act may enter into | 32 |
| an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with respect to the | 33 |
| alleged pattern or practice violation. | 34 |
| (5) The Illinois Attorney General may commence a civil | 35 |
| action under this subsection (A) whether or not a charge | 36 |
| has been filed under Sections 7A-102 or 7B-102 and without |
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| regard to the status of any charge, however, if the | 2 |
| Department or local agency has obtained a conciliation or | 3 |
| settlement agreement or if the parties have entered into an | 4 |
| Assurance of Voluntary Compliance no action may be filed | 5 |
| under this subsection (A) with respect to the alleged civil | 6 |
| rights violation practice that forms the basis for the | 7 |
| complaint except for the purpose of enforcing the terms of | 8 |
| the conciliation or settlement agreement or the terms of | 9 |
| the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance. | 10 |
| (6) If any person fails or refuses to file any | 11 |
| statement or report, or obey any subpoena, issued pursuant | 12 |
| to subdivision (A)(2) of this Section, the Attorney General | 13 |
| will be deemed to have met the requirement of conducting a | 14 |
| preliminary investigation and may proceed to initiate a | 15 |
| civil action pursuant to subdivision (A)(1) of this | 16 |
| Section. | 17 |
| (B) Relief which may be granted. | 18 |
| (1) In any civil action brought pursuant to subsection | 19 |
| (A) of this Section, the Attorney General may obtain as a | 20 |
| remedy, equitable relief (including any permanent or | 21 |
| preliminary injunction, temporary restraining order, or | 22 |
| other order, including an order enjoining the defendant | 23 |
| from engaging in such civil rights violation or ordering | 24 |
| any action as may be appropriate). In addition, the | 25 |
| Attorney General may request and the Court may impose a | 26 |
| civil penalty to vindicate the public interest: | 27 |
| (a) in an amount not exceeding $10,000 if the | 28 |
| defendant has not been adjudged to have committed any | 29 |
| prior civil rights violations under the provision of | 30 |
| the Act that is the basis of the complaint; | 31 |
| (b) in an amount not exceeding $25,000 if the | 32 |
| defendant has been adjudged to have committed one other | 33 |
| civil rights violation under the provision of the Act | 34 |
| within 5 years of the occurrence of the civil rights | 35 |
| violation that is the basis of the complaint; and | 36 |
| (c) in an amount not exceeding $50,000 if the |
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| defendant has been adjudged to have committed 2 or more | 2 |
| civil rights violations under the provision of the Act | 3 |
| within 5 years of the occurrence of the civil rights | 4 |
| violation that is the basis of the complaint. | 5 |
| (2) A civil penalty imposed under subdivision (B)(1) of | 6 |
| this Section shall be deposited into the Attorney General | 7 |
| Court Ordered and Voluntary Compliance Payment Projects | 8 |
| Fund, which is a special fund in the State Treasury. Moneys | 9 |
| in the Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, for | 10 |
| the performance of any function pertaining to the exercise | 11 |
| of the duties of the Attorney General including but not | 12 |
| limited to enforcement of any law of this State and | 13 |
| conducting public education programs; however, any moneys | 14 |
| in the Fund that are required by the court or by an | 15 |
| agreement to be used for a particular purpose shall be used | 16 |
| for that purpose. | 17 |
| (3) Aggrieved parties seeking actual damages must | 18 |
| follow the procedure set out in Sections 7A-102 or 7B-102 | 19 |
| for filing a charge.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 21 |
| becoming law.
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