April R. Walkup, Shareholder

April Walkup is the Chair of Querrey & Harrow’s Employment & Labor Practice Group. 

Ms. Walkup’s practice includes the negotiation and administration of collective bargaining agreements and the implementation of state and federal labor, employment and discrimination laws on behalf of public and private sector employers.  On behalf of public sector employers Ms. Walkup has negotiated with unions representing employees and in the Departments of Public Works, Firefighters and Administration. 

In her employment practice, Ms. Walkup has represented casinos, hospitals, nursing homes, hospice facilities, printing companies, trucking companies, municipalities, and investment corporations before Administrative Agencies, including the EEOC, Illinois Department of Human Rights, the Illinois Department of Labor, and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.  Ms. Walkup has also represented several employers against claims of sexual harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, pregnancy discrimination, gender discrimination, and disability discrimination at the State and Federal Court levels.  Ms. Walkup has also been involved in assisting employers in settling Union grievance disputes and negotiating Collective Bargaining Agreements.

She counsels employers in their human resource matters and assists them in promulgating, revising, and implementing internal policies and procedures, including employee handbooks, anti-harassment policies and job applications, applying overtime and related regulations to non-exempt employees, drafting employment agreements and severance agreements, conducting investigations of internal claims of workplace harassment, setting up employee hotlines to report work-related misconduct, and implementing progressive discipline and other aspects of adverse job actions.

During her second and third years of law school Ms. Walkup earned practical litigation experience when she worked at The John Marshall Fair Housing Legal Clinic and at the Chicago Housing Authority as a Supreme Court Rule 711 law clerk.  In this capacity, Ms. Walkup prosecuted fair housing litigation in various Administrative Agencies and in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and defended the Chicago Housing Authority in premises liability actions in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Memberships

• Chicago Bar Association
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• Chicagoland Healthcare Risk Management Society
• PKU Organization, Board of Directors 2005-present
• ABA Texas Mock Trial Team, 1995-1996
• Phi Alpha Delta, 1996-1997

Community Involvement

• Ms. Walkup regularly presents in-service seminars for physicians and medical staff at hospitals and managed care organizations on employment and risk management topics. She also offers seminars in anti-harassment training and employment practice for organizations throughout the Chicago area.
• Ms. Walkup is on the Board of Directors of the PKU Organization of Illinois, an organization dedicated to providing education and support to families with children who have Phenylketanuria, a genetic disorder requiring a protein-restricted diet.

Representative Matters

• A claim of sexual harassment and retaliation was brought against the President of a mortgage lender and his company. Querrey & Harrow received the assignment to represent the mortgage lender after substantial discovery was completed and only three months before trial. Following a re-deposition of the plaintiff, and only 4 days before trial, the case settled for $113,000 with the plaintiff receiving only $38,000 (due to her attorney’s fees).
• A claim of retaliatory discharge was made by an employee who was injured while working for a nursing home. Following an initial interview with the director of human resources for the nursing home, April Walkup discovered that the decision to discharge the employee was because of the injury, clearly a violation of Illinois law. Due to these admissions, the nursing home agreed to resolve both the workers compensation claim and the retaliatory discharge claim. The plaintiff’s demand was $45,000. Both cases settled for the combined amount of $18,000, well below Ms. Walkup’s authority of $25,000.
• A claim of age discrimination under the ADEA finding before the Northern District of Illinois was recently dismissed with prejudice after two years of litigation with no payment made to the plaintiff.

News

• Querrey & Harrow's Appellate Department: On A Winning Streak
• Querrey & Harrow Shareholders Contribute New Topic to Construction Law Handbook, Second Edition
• Wrongful Death Trial Returns Verdict In Favor Of Doctor And Hospital
• Summary Judgment Obtained for Hospital In Suit Alleging Breach of Employment Restraint and Tortious Interference