Source: https://hsplegal.com/lawyers/christopher-wilmes/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 05:44:03+00:00

Document:
Christopher Wilmes | Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd.
Christopher Wilmes is a Shareholder of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd, and joined the firm in 2009. Mr. Wilmes is a litigation attorney with a great deal of experience working on civil rights, employment discrimination, and wage and hour cases. He also is very knowledgeable about laws relating to pre-employment background checks, having spoken on this topic at conferences in a half-dozen cities around the country. Mr. Wilmes has successfully argued cases in the Seventh Circuit and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals, prevailed in a jury trial, and has been recognized as a Leading Lawyer and Super Lawyer. Last year, the EEOC appointed Mr. Wilmes to act as a consent decree monitor in the matter of EEOC v. Source One Staffing, Inc. (N.D. III.).
Prior to joining HSPRD, Mr. Wilmes clerked for two federal judges, the Honorable Matthew Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois, and the Honorable Joel Flaum of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. After completing these two clerkships, Mr. Wilmes was awarded a prestigious Skadden Public Interest Fellowship and spent two years working for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, providing free civil legal services to underprivileged residents of Chicago.
Volunteer basketball coach at Christ the King School; volunteer baseball coach at Beverly Athletic Club.
Recovering Stolen Wages From Fissured Workplaces, NELA Wage and Hour Conference (Mar. 2017).
Remedies for Workers In and Out of the Courtroom, panel discussion at The Modern-Day American Worker conference (Mar. 2016).
Protecting Employees & Job Applicants From Improper Criminal Background Checks, panelist at National Employment Lawyers Association annual convention (June 2015).
Use of Credit, Criminal, and Other Background Checks, panel discussion at the Federal Bar Association Annual Employment Law Seminar (Jan. 2015).
Legal and Social Consequences of a Criminal Record: Helping Clients Overcome These Barriers, panel discussion sponsored by the Chicago Bar Foundation (Oct. 2013).
Arrest Records as Barriers to Employment, panel discussion sponsored by the Adler School of Professional Psychology Institute on Social Exclusion (Oct. 2013).
Look Before You Leap: Thoughts on Taking a Plea, CLE Presentation to Cook County Public Defenders (Aug. 28, 2013).
Hot Topics in Employment Class Action Law, CLE Presentation to West Suburban Bar Association(Nov. 17, 2012).
Application of the Fair Credit Reporting Act to Employment Screening, panel discussion at the National Consumer Law Center Annual Conference (Oct. 27, 2012).
Challenging the Disparate Impact Caused By Employers’ (Mis)use of the Criminal Background Checks, panel discussion at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Civil Rights Training Institute (Oct. 11, 2012).
Criminal-Record-Related Barriers To Employment And Public Housing, CLE Presentation to Poverty Law Section of the State Bar of Texas (July 29, 2011).
The Brave New World of Consumer Protection Lawsuits & Enforcement, panel discussion at the National Employment Law Project Annual Conference (Apr. 2011).
Challenging the Use of Arrest Records and Credit Histories in Hiring, panel discussion at the Impact Fund’s Annual Employment Discrimination Class Action Conference (Feb. 24-25, 2011).
Criminal-Record-Related Legal Issues, presentation at the regular meeting of the Chicago Bar Association’s Legal Aid Committee (Jan. 2009).
Criminal Records and Employment, presentation at the regular meeting of the Chicago Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Committee (Nov. 2008).
General counsel for the Central Advisory Council, a non-profit board comprised of 16 public housing residents elected to represent other residents living in their developments and to advocate for better public housing policies.
Settled wage and hour claims on behalf of a class of call center employees for $440,000.
Recovered well over one-million dollars for workers in the transportation industry who alleged that they were misclassified as independent contractors.
Lynch v. Huberman. Obtained a preliminary injunction order on behalf of several Chicago Public Schools teachers after a district court judge held that the Chicago Board of Education had violated their First Amendment rights to political speech.
Joshaway v. First Student and Hunter v. First Transit. National class actions against the two subsidiaries of the largest public transportation provider in the United States, challenging the use of criminal background checks on employees and applicants in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. At that time, the $5.9 million settlement was the largest FCRA settlement resolving employment-related claims in U.S. history.
Represented dozens of individuals in Petitions for Rule to Show Cause brought against the Illinois State Police, where the Illinois State Police refused to comply with judges’ orders to expunge or seal criminal records. The Illinois State Police ultimately agreed to systemically reform its policies and comply with all expungement and sealing orders issued across the State.
The Chicago Public Housing Authority are testing a new program which limits housing vouchers to eight years.
September 28, 2016 marks the first step towards a change in Chicago Public Housing’s utility allowance practices.
Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune ran an article on a class action lawsuit filed by HSPRD alleging wage theft against All Star Amusement, a subsidiary of carnival giant North American Midway Entertainment.
Yesterday, HSPRD and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law filed a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of current and former Alexander County Housing Authority residents against the Alexander County Housing Authority (ACHA) and it’s four past executive directors in Cairo Illinois.
HSPRD along with the Community Activism Law Alliance (CALA) filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of former Dunkin’ Donuts workers against a Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee yesterday.
HSPRD attorney Chris Wilmes, was featured in “Last week Tonight with John Oliver” last week.
Last week, HSPRD along with the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law filed a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of Chicago public housing residents against the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA).
Rivera Rivera v. Peri & Sons Farms, Inc.
In the case of Rivera Rivera v. Peri & Sons Farms, Inc., the court of appeals held that the Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to reimburse agricultural guestworkers for their travel, immigration, and recruitment expenses during their first work week. This decision could affect employment cases across the country.In the case of Rivera Rivera v. Peri & Sons Farms, Inc., the court of appeals held that the Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to reimburse agricultural guestworkers for their travel, immigration, and recruitment expenses during their first work week. This decision could affect employment cases across the country.

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