7th Circuit - Labor and Employment - Bargaining - Due Process During some 50 years of reading cases, I've learned that chutzpa often weaves its way into claims filed with the courts. When those claims are appealed, you really have to wonder whether attorneys are driving the case or their clients. So, in Illinois, the question arose over whether security staff at Chicago airports were "law enforcement officers" for purposes of having the right to carry concealed weapons and make arrests during retirement. After some research the City concluded that these employees did not meet the required definition of "law enforcement officer" in the Illinois law since they were unarmed while employed and reported to the Commissioner of Aviation and not the Chief of Police. The union sought relief and pursued its many options under the collective bargaining laws and ultimately lost. At this point chutzpa jumped in. Three of the affected employees asserted that their loss amounted to a federal constitutional deprivation of --- well, as the court noted who knows ----and a denial of due process. Long story short, the appellate panel upheld the lower court decision noting among other things that when a union acts through collective bargaining to protect the rights of its members, the members don't seem to have the right to challenge the results as individuals through the federal courts. At least that's my take. The panel also upheld the award of costs to Chicago and a sideline lawyer like myself continues to marvel at the great work of the Chicago team - Congratulations! Yates vs Chicago processWebInputExternal.pl (uscourts.gov)<https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/OpinionsWeb/processWebInputExternal.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2023/D01-25/C:22-1109:J:Easterbrook:aut:T:fnOp:N:2992711:S:0> Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Of Counsel P: (202) 466-5424 x7110 M: (240) 876-6790 D: (202) 742-1016 [facebook icon]<https://www.facebook.com/InternationalMunicipalLawyersAssociation/>[twitter icon]<https://twitter.com/imlalegal>[linkedin icon]<https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-municipal-lawyers-association-inc./> [logo]<https://imla.org/> 51 Monroe St. Suite 404 Rockville, MD, 20850 www.imla.org<http://www.imla.org/> Plan Ahead! IMLA's 2022 Mid-Year Seminar<https://imla.org/seminars/>, April 8-11, 2022 in Washington, D.C.! IMLA's 2022 Annual<https://imla.org/annual-conference/> Conference, October 19-23, 2022 in Portland, OR! Check out our On-Demand webinar library<https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/shopping/shopping.aspx?site=imla&webcode=shopping&cart=0&shopsearchCat=Merchandise&productCat=Webinar> with 100+ webinars at your fingertips.