Ford Motor Defeats Worker’s Illinois Gender Violence Law Claim

A female Ford Motor Co. employee in Chicago lacks a claim against the automaker over alleged workplace harassment under Illinois Gender Violence Act because corporate entities likely can’t be sued under that law, a federal judge ruled.

The state supreme court has never addressed whether the IGVA’s reference to “person” in authorizing lawsuits under the statute may extended to corporations, said Judge Harry D. Leinenweber of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

A state appeals court said that such an interpretation is possible, but a contrary conclusion reached in Mundo v. City of Chicago is more ...