Illinois Renews Call for Dismissal of DOJ's Workplace Privacy Suit
Illinois renewed its request for a federal court to dismiss a DOJ workplace privacy suit Monday. The state argued that DOJ didn't prove how federal law preempts elements of the state's Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (Privacy Act).
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DOJ sued Illinois in May, alleging disruption of federal immigration authority (see 2505050065). Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul (D) asked the U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois to dismiss case 25-04811 in June (see 2506250012). Meanwhile, in addition to the lawsuit, the DOJ has asked for a preliminary injunction against the state's Privacy Act (see 2507150049).
The DOJ's "express preemption argument founders on the plain language of [a federal law] which displaces only those state laws that impose penalties for employing 'unauthorized aliens,'" Raoul said in Monday's court document. Moreover, DOJ's field preemption argument isn't supported by the Immigration and Nationality Act, and it "has not identified an actual conflict between state and federal law, which dooms its conflict preemption argument."
In the end, state and federal laws protect Illinois citizens' right to work, Raoul added.