The most common plaintiff in a single-plaintiff employment discrimination lawsuit is a former employee who alleges that his or her employment was terminated for unlawful reasons, such as on the basis of his or her age, race, sex, religion or disability. However, the federal anti-discrimination statutes and the Illinois Human Rights Act also cover “failure to hire” claims, which are brought by individuals who allege that they were not hired (or promoted) on the basis of a protected classification …