EEOC Trends and Developments in 2023

Yvette Heintzelman Related Seminars and Products

Member

Clark Hill PLC

Yvette Heintzelman is a dynamic, tenacious, and effective management advocate who works collaboratively to deliver practical solutions to her clients in all aspects of both labor and employment matters.

Workplace Counseling

Yvette regularly advises employers on a wide range of workplace and legal issues including workplace misconduct, reasonable accommodations, FMLA leave, hiring, disciplining, terminating, severance agreements, employee training, personnel policies, labor agreement administration, wage and hour issues and other duties and liabilities of employers.  She has also assisted clients in responding to government investigations.

Employment Litigation

Yvette has litigated a broad spectrum of single-plaintiff, multi-plaintiff, and class action cases including the following:

• Title VII
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• 42 U.S.C § 1981 and §1983
• Overtime and other wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• Various state-law claims, including wrongful termination, whistleblower claims, and other general employment matters

Traditional Labor Relations

Yvette’s  traditional labor practice focuses on all aspects of traditional labor law.  She regularly represents clients in collective-bargaining negotiations, organizing campaigns, labor arbitrations, unfair labor practice hearings and labor agreement administration.

Workplace Investigations

She has extensive experience investigating employee misconduct and working with public safety departments and  interpreting the Peace Officers Disciplinary Act, Safe T Act, and the Firefighters Disciplinary Act and associated agreements, laws, and regulations.

Pension/Post-Employment Benefits

Yvette’s  experience includes investigation and analysis of injury claims, particularly public safety injury claims and their intersection with disability and privacy issues, pension applications, PEDA and PSEBA benefits.

Additionally, Yvette has extensive experience representing employers in the public sector, real estate, manufacturing, retail/sales, and staffing industries. She creates and leads comprehensive management and human resources training on diversity issues, complex FMLA issues, discrimination and harassment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and conducts internal investigations.

Mary M. (Betsey) Madden Related Seminars and Products

Chief Legal Counsel & Ethics Officer

Illinois Department of Human Rights

Mary M. (Betsey) Madden joined the Illinois Department of Human Rights in November 2017 as the agency’s Chief Legal Counsel and Ethics Officer. She advises the agency’s Director and staff in enforcement of the Illinois Human Rights Act and oversees the work of the Legal Division. Ms. Madden previously served as Personnel Counsel at the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, where she had responsibility for employment litigation matters and providing legal representation before the Illinois Department of Human Rights, Illinois Human Rights Commission, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Within the State government, Ms. Madden also served for three years as Deputy Inspector General at the Office of Executive Inspector General (OEIG), where she managed the work of attorneys and investigators on matters under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Prior to the OEIG, Ms. Madden spent eight years as an Assistant Attorney General at the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, representing the interests of the State in employment litigation matters in State and Federal courts, and before administrative agencies. In addition to her experience defending employment discrimination claims on behalf of the State, Ms. Madden also worked for several years in a small plaintiff-side employment litigation practice.

Prior to attending law school, Ms. Madden was a Federal Investigator with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in both their Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Hamline University School of Law.

Elizabeth (Libby) Rowe Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Dowd, Bloch Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich, LLP

Elizabeth L. Rowe ("Libby") joined Dowd, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich, LLP in 2014 and became a partner in 2020. Libby has experience representing employee benefit funds, labor unions, and individuals on a variety of employment matters. Her practice areas include general representation of employee benefit funds on matters of ERISA, HIPAA, and Internal Revenue Code compliance, and benefit claims and appeals;  representation of labor unions before the National Labor Relations Board; representation of individuals and employers in EEOC, Illinois Department of Human Rights, FMLA, Title VII, and other employment proceedings;  and federal and state court litigation. She also assists clients with annual workplace sexual harassment trainings.  Prior to joining Dowd, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich, LLP, Libby worked for the legal department of the Service Employees International Union. Libby is a 2012 graduate of the University Illinois College of Law.