Illinois Employment Legal Questions

You may have a very good case of race and age discrimination, and possibly under ERISA if the termination will deprive you of any rights you would have under a pension plan with the company.  Most discrimination cases are established by proving that you were treated worse than a similarly situated white and/or younger employee with a performance record worse than yours was treated more favorably.  There are other factors that may exist in your case which must be reviewed to get a better understanding of your case. You should meet with an employment law attorney to review your case in more detail.... Read More

 She is protected against retaliation under the FMLA. Therefore, the employer in this situation would have to justify and establish why she was laid off, especially if the company did not go in order of seniority.  If the company was targetting female employees, that would also violate the law. She should speak to an attorney to further explain her case... Read More

The typical remedy for an on the job injury is workers compensation. If the employer was not insured for workers compensation, then it may be possible to file a negligence action against the employer if the employer was negligent in some respect in regards to the condition that caused the injury. Also if there is a 3rd party responsible for negligence, there may be a claim/suit against them although in Michigan any premises liability case against an owner/controller of a premises is typically subject to the open and obvious defense. Your brothers best best is to consult counsel to explore the facts and circumstances of the incident to analyze whether there are any viable (legally and economically) claims to make.... Read More

I would need more information about the incident for which you were suspended.  There are times when a smaller company leaves you hanging like this and hopes you go away without having to terminate you.  Just because they have not officially terminated you, does not mean that you can not apply for unemployment benefits, but you may want to wait another 2 weeks before you do that.  There is also no reason why you cannot look for other work and perhaps should consider that if there is a risk you will be terminated.  BEFORE you do anything, however, you should send an email or letter to the company indicating they said they would contact you on 5 days and it is now almost 2 weeks without any pay and ask them if they will be making the decision to allow you to return to work by Monday... Read More

The company can only block your unemployment request if they prove you engaged in misconduct or violated a rule you were fully aware of.  If they accuse you of something, they need either a witness to state they saw you do this, or a video tape.  A manager cannot just testify that John Smith told him you did this.  John Smith would have to testify to this at the hearing... Read More

You should meet with an attorney to discuss the best way to defend yourself as this is not something you should try to handle on your own.  Basically, credibility will be the most important defense you have. Showing that you had an excellent performance record, no drug use at all, getting positive evaluations and statements from co-employees and supervisors, evidence that others had problems with the new computer system, and anything else to prove it was just an innocent error will be needed to prove your case.  Having an experienced attorney will be the best way to present your defense ... Read More

The situation was clearly not handled in a professional way.  But, without anything more, I see no legal action that you can take.  If you have a good relationship with the manager, you can express your concerns to him/her. It may not be a good idea to make too much of this right now to avoid making this even more of a problem.  This is why a talk with the manager might be a good step if you have a good relationship with that manager. The manager may be able to guide you on whether to make an issue of this or let it go... Read More

Telling other employees that you might be terminated is not by itself defamation.  If they said you were about to be terminated for something like fraud, theft, or being under the influence (all of this being false), that would be defamation. The employee telling others that you were about to be terminated, however, may be a violation of your privacy and HR would probably consider taking action against that employee who told other employees about this. Whether you should tell HR about this depends on whether you feel making this complaint will hasten your termination, or if it will cause them to stop or at least postpone your termination if the company feels embarassed by this issue.  You should probably meet with an attorney to review the facts in more detail and better evaluate your next step... Read More

An employer is not required to provide an employee with a severance when they are terminated. This is true regardless of whether the termination was based on a good reason or false reason. This does not mean that the employer will not provide you with one if you ask, but they are not required to do so. There are typically 3 possible arguments that may be used to get a severance and sometimes these are overlapping and can be used together. First, if you have a reasonable basis for filing suit against the employer, then they may be willing to pay you in exchange for a severance and release agreement Second, if you can detail your accomplishments and contributions to the company and argue the company made money from your efforts, this is often a good motivator for the company. Third, if you can convince them that you were unfairly treated under the circumstances and are now without a job and limited prospects, this may also motivate them to offer a severance. It is best to meet with an attorney to review your facts and then determine the best way to approach this.... Read More

You may have a case against the temp agency either for negligence or possibly for false misrepresentation if they never bothered to inform the company if it was ok.  It could be argued that once you informed them you worked there before and any other pertinent information relating to that (such whether there were any other problems when you worked there before), the temp agency then owed you a duty to insure it would be ok with the employer before you quit your job. You need to meet with an attorney to review this in more detail.  One important factor may be how much money you claim you lost over this.  It would have to be enough to make the case worth pursuing... Read More

The attorney is free to ask if you want to change the initial fee agreement as long as he fully explains all the pros and cons and reasons for the proposed change.  But you are not required to agree with the change.  This is sometimes done when the legal fees based on the hourly rate began to get so high that the client is unable to keep up with the payments.  In that case, if the client falls too far behind in paying the legal fees, the attorney and client may agree to change the fee arrangement since it allows the attorney to continue to represent the client. If you are current with the legal fees per the original agreement, and you do not anticipate a problem in keeping up with those fees pursuant to your agreement, there may not be a reason for you to agree to a new arrangement, but you certainly can if you want.  You may want to have another attorney evaluate your case who can then tell you the strengths and weaknesses of the case to allow you to make a more informed decision.  Your attorney should also be able to give you the same assessment. The upside for you to change this agreement is that should you lose the case, you do not have to pay any more fees. The downside is that if your case is very strong and you stand to make a large amount of money in either a settlement or at trial, then you will end up keeping less money due to the new contingency fee agreement.... Read More

My impression from your question is that the employer is probably paying your vacation correctly, but there may be arguments to be made from an employment contract, letter, employee handbook or other contractual document. You are unlikely to get a firm answer in a post like this as you would need an attorney to review the terms of your employment.... Read More

Though you are not necessarily an exempt employee just because your employer identified you as such, it does appear that your job as a programmer and designer is an exempt position.  The next question is whether your employer either treats you as hourly or pays you hourly, regardless of whether your position is exempt or not.  If you are paid hourly, you must get overtime.  If you are called salaried, but your employer treats you as hourly, you may be entitled to overtime.  In your case, if there are days when you work less than 37.5 hours and are docked a prorata portion of your pay, then it is possible the employer has now treated you as an hourly employee and may therefore have to pay you overtime.  You should consult with an attorney who is experienced in wage and hour and overtime issues to further explore your facts... Read More

If you were a full time employee for the last 12 months and your company employes at least 50 people, it is possible you might be protected under the FMLA.  You would have to had continuing contact with the employer so they knew how long you might be off.  Simply showing up one week later with a note would not protect you if the employer had no notice you would be off sick for a week... Read More

Depending on the reasons why, an employer can decrease pay or change your duties prospectively. They can tell you starting next week this will be your new salary and duties.  They cannot do this rectroactively.  This all assumes there is a business reason for this. The employer cannot make these changes regardless of the timing, if the real reason is based on some type of illegal discrimination (age, race, etc.) or retaliation for certain protected activities you may have complained about.  If the decision to end your working remotely is being applied to all employees, this may be within their rights.  But, if you need to work remotely because of a disability, this may be illegal. You should speak to an attorney to review this case further.... Read More

If you are being paid by the hour, then you should be getting paid for the time you are required to be present doing any type of work, regardless of whether you are clocked in or clocked out. As to giving tips back to the employer, this practice is usually not allowed since it essentially constitutes a deduction from your wages which is illegal without your written approval, and it must be for a valid reason.... Read More

Although an employer has the right to terminate an employee for any reason at all (except for illegal reasons such as discrimination or retaliation), the employer cannot falsely promise you long term employment when he/she has no intention of keeping you for more than 90 days.  This is especially the case where you may have passed up another job offer to take this one based on what may have been a false promise.  These cases are not easy to prove, but it is worth meeting with an employment law attorney to further explore this, especially given your statement that the employer has done this to teh last 6 people he hired.... Read More

The employer cannot take any deductions from your paycheck for any costs they claim to have incurred without your written agreement.  This is true even if there was a legitimate reason for this charge of $123.00. This is why they want you to sign that document because their action was illegal.  It is also clear that the company is out to get you for some reason.  The problem is that unless this is based on some type of discrimination (race, age, national origin, etc) or retaliation for certain types of complaints, there may be no legal action for the way they are treating you.  But, at a minimum, you can inform them that they must return the $123 or you will file with the Ill Dept of Labor. Since they gave you written approval to run the route as you saw fit, they cannot claim you owe them for any added costs that may have resulted when you ran the route... Read More

If your medical limitations and job duties at work remained consistent until the employer learned of your disability, then you have a strong case for discrimination under the ADA and should meet with an attorney to pursue this matter further. You would need to perform your typical essential job functions either with or without an accommodation even with a disability.  But there are enough suspicious facts to review this matter further... Read More

In these times, a threat to shoot co-workers is and always should be deemed serious, even if the employee making such a threat only intended it as a (very stupid) joke.  The employer is required to maintain a safe work environment and if you are injured because he falied to address a known risk, the employer is liable for any and all injuries.  Being shot, however, is a risk people want to avoid. If the employer fails to act, you could inform him you will resign for good reason (safety) if he does not take appropriate action.  This will allow you to obtain unemployment benefits. If you are more interested in keeping your job, then you can inform the employer that you will have to report this to the police if he does not take action.  Depending on how volitle this employee is, appropriate action may require the employee's termination.  You would have a the right to file a lawsuit if the employer were to terminate you for reporting this to the police... Read More

If I understand your question and surrounding facts, you are hoping to recover the bonus.  The terms of your agreement regarding your compensation would be the first place to look.  If the agreement is in writing, there is probably some provision that states whether you must still be employed in order to receive the bonus.  If there is such a provision, and especially if the bonus is described as being discretionary, then you may not have a claim for the bonus.  It would be best to meet with an attorney to review this in more detail and it is certainly worth your time to at least consult with an employment law attorney.... Read More

The employer is typically required to treat similarly situated employees the same.  In your situation, the employer would have to give the other receptionist and you similar benefits if you each worked similar hours and were with the doctor for a similar period of time.  The medical assistants would receive the same types of benefits as other medical assistants.  The employer can give different pay and benefits to the medical assistants as compared to the receptionists as these are different positions requiring different skills. So there would not be any violation in your case... Read More

An employer cannot charge the employee for expenses the hotel chose to incur from a guest who complained, especially in this case.  The employer can recover overpayments that the employer inadvertently paid to the employee, or for items that the employee allegedly took from the employer.  But the employer cannot charge the employee for the expense you describe in your email, or take this amount out of his paycheck without the employee's written approval.  It is also illegal to deduct any of these sums from the employee's paycheck without the employee's written approval.... Read More