Reaching a severance settlement in an Illinois employment dispute

An employee of a company in Illinois was notified that his or her employment was being terminated following a conflict with the company. We reviewed the employee's legal rights regarding the lawfulness of the termination and unpaid compensation, and supported the severance negotiations.

The main issues were the lawfulness of the termination under Illinois's at-will employment doctrine and whether a claim of retaliatory discharge for raising work-related objections could be established.

Also at issue were the company's failure to provide wage statements, and whether claims for unused paid leave and bonus payments would be recognized.

We reviewed Illinois employment law and wage payment statutes to analyze the legal basis for claims over the termination and retaliatory discharge.

We also reviewed materials on the repeated delays in issuing wage statements, the payout of unused paid leave and the bonus arrangement. We then developed a strategy that separately assessed the legal viability of each claim and how it could be used in the negotiations.

We negotiated a severance package taking into account the potential legal claims over the termination itself and the employee's rights to wages and paid leave, and resolved the dispute by securing an appropriate severance package for the client.

Related U.S. practices: Employment & Labor, Business & Commercial Disputes