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PRESS RELEASE
For more information, please contact: Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
Chicago-Kent Professor Richard J. Gonzalez honored by the U.S. District Court and Federal Bar Association for public service
CHICAGO–June 11, 2008--Professor Richard J. Gonzalez has been honored by the U.S. District Court and the Chicago chapter of the Federal Bar Association for his public service work.
Gonzalez has been named a recipient of an Award for Excellence in Public Interest. The award was presented May 13 at the Ninth Annual Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service ceremony in the James B. Parsons Memorial Courtroom of the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse. ABA President William H. Neukom was the keynote speaker.
Professor Gonzalez was cited for his successful representation of a former employee of a large suburban Chicago school district who allegedly was fired from his job because he was serving on a grand jury.
In March of 2007, Judge James F. Holderman, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, reviewed the employee’s claims and found "probable merit" that the school district violated the federal law that prohibits employers from retaliating or discriminating against employees based on their grand juror status.
Professor Gonzalez was appointed to represent the employee under the provision of the law that allows for legal representation for employees who choose to pursue claims against their employers in U.S. District Court. Professor Gonzalez obtained a significant settlement on the employee’s behalf before the case went to trial.
"Jury service, like voting, is an obligation of citizenship," said Professor Gonzalez. "In more than 20 years of practice, I have often heard stories about employers who try to prevent their employees from serving on juries. This rarely-used federal law prohibits employers from firing, threatening, intimidating or coercing employees to evade grand jury service. It is believed to be the first time it has been applied in the Chicago area and I’m glad to have been able to resolve the matter for my client."
As a clinical professor in Chicago-Kent’s Law Offices, Professor Gonzalez represents employees and employers in a wide variety of discrimination, wrongful discharge, and defamation cases in federal and state court and in anti-discrimination agencies. His practice places particular emphasis on cases involving victims of employment discrimination and negotiation of severance agreements.
Prior to joining the Chicago-Kent faculty in 1988, Professor Gonzalez was a litigator with the Chicago law firm of James D. Montgomery and Associates. He also spent four years as an attorney with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, and three years as an administrative law judge for the State of Illinois Human Rights Commission. Professor Gonzalez is a member of the Federal Trial Bar of the Northern District of Illinois. He earned his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University and his law degree at Ohio State University College of Law.
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