The Seventh Circuit affirmed. It held that the terms of the contract allowed the former member to obtain percentage of legal fees received by the firm during time of his employment. Moreover, at time the member was fired, there was no guarantee that any of his efforts would result in contingent fees accruing in cases at issue. As such, the plaintiff had no right under agreement to fees received from cases that had settled after effective date of his termination.
A former member of a law firm sued the firm for breech of his employment contract. Hess v. Kanosky Bresney, No. 14-1921 (May 4, 2015). The member sought legal fees from the settlement of cases worked on by him that the firm had received after he had been fired. The firm moved for summary judgment. The District Court granted the motion.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed. It held that the terms of the contract allowed the former member to obtain percentage of legal fees received by the firm during time of his employment. Moreover, at time the member was fired, there was no guarantee that any of his efforts would result in contingent fees accruing in cases at issue. As such, the plaintiff had no right under agreement to fees received from cases that had settled after effective date of his termination.
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The Supreme Court held that a courts have authority to review whether the EEOC has fulfilled its statutory obligation to attempt conciliation of claims before suing an employer for employment discrimination under Title VII. Mach Mining v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (12-1019) April 2, 2015.
However this review is narrow, enforcing only the EEOC's statutory obligation under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b) to give the employer notice and an opportunity to achieve voluntary compliance. The EEOC has extensive discretion under Title VII to determine what kind and amount of communication with an employer is appropriate in any given case. Thus, the Court made held: "A sworn affidavit from the EEOC stating that it has performed the obligations noted above but that its efforts have failed will usually suffice to show that it has met the conciliation requirement." However, should the obligation not be met, the remedy is not dismissal, but remand to the EEOC for further settlement efforts. "Should the court find in favor of the employer, the appropriate remedy is to order the EEOC to undertake the mandated efforts to obtain voluntary compliance. See §2000e-5(f)(1) (authorizing a stay of a Title VII action for that purpose)." Plaintiffs (window-washers) sued defendant for overtime pay under Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Alvarado v. Corporate Cleaning Services, Inc., No. 13-3818 (7th Cir. April 1, 2015). The employer moved for summary judgement and the District Court granted the motion, finding that the defendant was not required to pay plaintiffs overtime pay under FLSA. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. It held that the record showed that: (1) plaintiffs' regular pay exceeded 1.5 times federal minimum wage; (2) more than half of plaintiffs' compensation was in form of commissions pursuant to a "point system;" and (3) defendant's business qualified as retail or service establishment. The Seventh Circuit also held that the fact that plaintiffs worked irregular hours and days at various times of year that often included working more than 8 hours per day justified exemption from overtime pay requirement. The Seventh Circuit rejected plaintiff's argument that the defendant did not qualify as retail or service establishment since, according to plaintiffs, defendant's sale of its window-washer services lacked retail concept. The City of Des Plaines fired Police Officer Bueno after investigating allegations that he used unnecessary or excessive force against arrestees and failed to report it. City of Des Plaines v. Metropolitan Alliance of Police Chapter No. 240, 2015 Ill. App. (1st) 140957 (March 31, 2015). The Union, representing Bueno, submitted his grievance to arbitration. The arbitrator concluded that Bueno had violated certain General Orders, but found that his termination was not appropriate based on due process concerns - namely City's delay in investigating and department's condoning conduct. The City filed a motion to vacate the arbitration award as it violated public policy. The circuit court agreed with the City but also denied the Union's motion to remand to the arbitrator for additional findings concerning Bueno's likelihood of engaging in the same misconduct following reinstatement. The Union appealed. The Appellate Court reversed the circuit court's judgment and remand the matter for further proceedings. It held that the arbitrator's award was incomplete, as it did not include any findings from which to infer that the arbitrator found Bueno was unlikely to reengage in offending conduct upon his reinstatement, which is necessary to fully assess public policy implications of reemployment. Plaintiff, a registered nurse, sued her employer for retaliating against her based on her refusal to follow her supervisor's instructions to falsify residents' medication administration records in violation of the Whistleblower Act. Young v. Alden Gardens of Waterford, LLC, 2015 Ill. App (1st) 131887 (March 31, 2015). The jury found that the long-term care facility was liable and the Circuit Court awarded attorney's fees to the Plaintiff. The Appellate Court found that the award of attorney's fees was within the Circuit Court's discretion and not contrary to manifest weight of evidence. The Appellate Court further held that evidentiary hearings are not required, as a matter of course, on fee petitions, but only where other party's response raises issue of fact that cannot be resolved without hearing further evidence. |
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