The following letter to the editor by ITLA President Timothy J. Cavanagh was published in the State Journal-Register on August 3, 2025.
New legislation would provide corporate accountability in Illinois
One cannot read a newspaper, watch television or browse social media without coming across a story about corporations behaving badly.
A major health insurer uses AI to indiscriminately deny claims, a national bank creates fake accounts and orders unwanted credit cards for real customers, an airplane manufacturer’s corner cutting on safety causes crashes that kill hundreds, are but three examples from recent years.
Too often, overworked and underfunded government regulators fail to discover the wrongdoing in time to prevent harm. Or, companies have used armies of lobbyists to rewrite laws in their favor, allowing them to “self-police” themselves with little to no independent oversight. And, if they do get caught, they’ve also changed the rules such that they’ll receive trivial fines amounting to no more than a slap on the wrist and something built into their cost of doing business. The results when there are no real consequences for corporate malfeasance can be tragic.
Legislation that passed the General Assembly with supermajority support and is now sitting on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk represents an opportunity for Illinois to add additional teeth to our laws that will deter big businesses from behaving badly by putting profits before people.
Senate Bill 328 concerns injuries and illnesses caused by the improper use of substances defined as toxic under the state’s Uniform Hazardous Substances Act. Examples include asbestos, benzene and vinyl chloride – all common, but dangerous, industrial materials that require people who are exposed to them be informed and provided with proper safety equipment, such as goggles, chemical-resistant gloves, breathing masks, and protective clothing.
The bill is needed because too often businesses have sought to evade accountability for harms they have caused workers or consumers exposed unprotected to hazardous substances. Those companies claim that though they are registered or make money by selling products in Illinois, because they are not legally incorporated (many choose Delaware) or do not have their physical headquarters here, our state’s courts are not the proper venue to hear claims against them.
Instead, they demand that people who have been injured or sickened, some of whom are in the process of dying, travel to other states to pursue their cases – an onerous burden that sometimes isn’t physically or financially possible.
The reason that you can be assured this is a good bill and much needed is because of the way its opponents resort to outright lies about what it permits and why. Chief among the fabrications is that it will allow “attorneys to file lawsuits in Illinois state courts that have nothing to do with our state.”
But, the truth and letter of the law explicitly say that there must be an Illinois connection for the case to be brought here. Once that is established, the legislation would allow other companies to be added as defendants in the case, regardless of where they may have their headquarters or be incorporated, for harm they have caused to an Illinois connected person.
The reason that’s important is because in some instances a person who has been harmed was exposed to hazardous substances not just in Illinois, but in other states or from products manufactured by companies not incorporated or headquartered here.
A good example of this is asbestos, which for decades was used in building materials and automobile parts due to its fire-suppression properties. In time, however, we learned that very fine asbestos fibers were easily inhaled and caused debilitating, painful and ultimately fatal lung diseases like mesothelioma. While nearly all forms of asbestos have been banned, its toxic legacy lives on and time is running out for those seeking justice and fair compensation for the suffering they have endured because of it.
As part of their scare-mongering, those demanding a gubernatorial veto also falsely claim that Senate Bill 328 pertains to “lifesaving medications, food and baby formula” and are trying to raise the specter that such essential items would no longer be available in Illinois. It should go without saying that such products by definition are not made with hazardous substances, which are defined as those that cause harm through ingestion, inhalation or absorption through the skin.
To listen to the cries of the extremely well-funded Chicken Little front groups and trade associations, businesses will leave the state in droves and the sky will fall if the governor signs Senate Bill 328 into law. These are the same organizations that are cheering the loudest at the national level for President Donald Trump’s gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency, Food & Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration – government bodies that have historically played essential roles in policing the worst kinds of corporate predation and disregard for human lives.
At a time of incredible national turmoil when society is being rigged even more in favor of the billionaire class, by signing Senate Bill 3238 into law Gov. Pritzker has an opportunity to show, once again, that in a sea of darkness Illinois is a beacon of light and hope for those who are being trampled by the selfish interests of a wealthy and powerful elite. The governor can demonstrate that while D.C. is abandoning its responsibilities to protect its citizens, Illinois will not.
Timothy J. Cavanagh
President, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
