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Zachary A. Pestine

Associate || Chicago

Employment Law, Multistate Advice and Counseling

Zachary Pestine is an experienced litigator who has achieved excellent results for clients, including grants of summary judgment and motions to dismiss with prejudice. Zac’s extensive federal and state court experience includes taking plaintiff and expert depositions, defending key witnesses in depositions, successfully arguing motions to dismiss and responses to motions for class certification in oral argument, and using beneficial deposition testimony and dispositive motion results to achieve favorable settlements.

Zac’s employment litigation experience includes:

  • Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) class actions
  • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) class actions
  • Title VII
  • FLSA collective actions
  • Retaliatory discharge
  • Illinois Whistleblower Act
  • Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA)
  • Wrongful termination
  • Section 1983, including the First Amendment
  • Breach of contract (including covenants not to complete) and unjust enrichment suits

Zac also has extensive experience reviewing and drafting internal company documents for compliance with federal and state law.

Zac earned his J.D. cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, where he served as an Executive Articles Editor for the school’s Jurisprudence Review. While in law school, he was also the Vice-President of the Labor and Employment Law Society. Zac earned his B.A. with distinction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a proud Badger. Outside of the courtroom, Zac serves on the Anti-Defamation League’s Midwest Regional Board, where he is a Co-Chair of the Engagement Committee.

Employment Law, Multistate Advice and Counseling
Learn more about Zachary A. Pestine

Employment:

Zac routinely counsels companies on employee issues and implementing policies in accordance with federal, state, and local employment statutes and laws, including the ADA, Title VII, BIPA, the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act, and the Illinois Freedom to Work Act.

Zac defends companies against employment-related claims before federal and state courts, including drafting and arguing dispositive motions in ADA, Title VII, and retaliatory discharge suits.

Class Actions:

Zac has extensive class action defense experience. Some examples include:

Education

Admittance to Practice

Professional Activities

  • Chicago Bar Association, Decalogue Society

Speeches

Insights by Zachary A. Pestine

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Illinois Supreme Court Rules Privacy Act Claims Have Five Year Statute of Limitations

On February 2, 2023, the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois ruled that all claims under Section 15 of the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (Privacy Act or BIPA) have a five year statute of limitations. The decision partially overturns an appellate court ruling that had found claims under subsections 15(c) and 15(d) of the Privacy Act were governed by a one-year limitations period under Illinois law for defamation and privacy claims.

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NLRB Proposes Rescission of Recently Issued Rules on Elections

On November 4, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) seeking to rescind the “election protection” rule published on April 1, 2020, and to restore the prior protocols, including holding the processing of an election petition in abeyance if a union files an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge—often referred to as a “blocking charge”—alleging an employer’s interference with the election process.

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First Jury Verdict Issued in Illinois Biometric Privacy Act Class Action

On October 12, 2022, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois concluded that a company violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (Privacy Act or BIPA) 45,600 times over six years by collecting truck drivers’ fingerprints to verify identities without the informed, written consent the Privacy Act requires.

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Updates to Illinois’s Bereavement Leave and Employee Sick Leave Laws

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker recently signed into law two bills addressing employee leave. The Family Bereavement Leave Act (FBLA) provides eligible employees with unpaid time off to grieve the death of a family member covered by the act, and it provides employees with time off due to certain pregnancy- or adoption-related events.

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Illinois’s Lodging Services Human Trafficking Law Leaves Unanswered Questions for Restaurants and Truck Stops

On January 1, 2022, amendments to Illinois’s Lodging Services Human Trafficking Recognition Training Act (820 ILCS 95/) took effect, ostensibly adding restaurants and truck stops to the act’s purview. Under the amended act, “a lodging establishment, restaurant, or truck stop shall provide its employees with training in the recognition of human trafficking and protocols for reporting observed human trafficking to the appropriate authority.”

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