Common Law of retaliatory discharge in Illinois

Some employers argue that when the Illinois Legislature enacted the Whistleblower Act, 740 ILCS 174/1 et seq in 2003, the General Assembly must have intended to deprive whistleblowers any remedy whatsoever who complain to their supervisors and their supervisors, supervisors about safety violations and criminal wrongdoing. Many of us thought that when the Illinois Appellate Court held in Callahan v. Edgewater Care & Rehabilitation, 374 Ill.App.3d 630, 872 N.E.2d 551 (1st Dist. 2007) that this Act does not preempt common law retaliatory discharge law which protects internal whistleblowers, that the issue was resolved in favor of ex-employee whistleblowers. But no, like some vampire books or movies that are so popular now, the issue, fangs and all, continues to rear its ugly head in Federal Court.