A: You may, on your own or with the assistance of an attorney, file a charge of discrimination with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. Chicago has amended its Human Rights Ordinance to address employment discrimination based on criminal history.This webpage contains resources for job applicants and employees with an arrest or conviction record, and employers who are considering whether to hire them. The Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) has long barred employers from making adverse employment decisions based on a person's arrest record. If you believe you have a criminal record discrimination case, you will need to prove the employer was discriminatory regarding your record. Under this law, contractors must postpone criminal background checks until they have extended conditional job offers. Regarding criminal record discrimination, employers may not discriminate against job applicants with similar criminal records based on protected classes. If an employer wants to conduct background checks, it must check all applicants equally. Swift said that I had simply (somehow) missed the section, but US Express laid it out for me. If an employer finds out that you expunged or sealed any criminal records, they cannot use that against you.