In a recent March 19, 2015 decision, the Illinois Supreme Court
refused to acknowledge the self-critical analysis privilege. This
recent discussion underscores the need to understand the different
standards for the privilege in each jurisdiction a company operates
under and the importance of the proactive steps to safeguard
privilege detailed in our November 13, 2014 post,
Protecting Your Safety Investigations and Deliberations from Prying
Eyes. Illinois now joins a number of states, such as Indiana
and Rhode Island, that have refused to adopt the privilege absent
legislative authority.
In Harris v. One Hope United, Inc., 2015 IL
117200, the Illinois Supreme Court was asked to determine
whether the self-critical analysis privilege applied to
"Priority Review" reports or quality control reports
created by an agency within the Illinois Department of Children and
Family Services (DCFS), One Hope. In this case – based on the
death of an infant whose family was
