Legal Question in Employment Law in Illinois

my husband was laid off in January from a business that was incorporated. The employer paid some of the commissions owed after the lay-off, but stopped paying just before he cleaned out the business and fled the state. We filed a claim with the Illinois Department of Labor against the employer, Gene Pope, but not with Flooring America with whom the business was incorporated with. Should we try to get the approx. $3000.00 from the corporation or can we? Gene Pope has fled to Florida, and we were told by a friend that it was a "no follow" state and we'd never see those lost commissions. Is that true?


Asked on 4/20/11, 2:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

Where did your husband get his W-2 or 1099s from? The corporation? Then that's the employer that has to be filed against. If Pope embezzled funds that's between him and the corporation, assuming he was a shareholder, director or officer. If your husband sues the corporation here in Illinois (where he worked, presumably) and gets a judgment, all states allow you to take a judgment and register it in their state, confirm it and possibly then proceed to collection procedures. The problem here may be that he could be "collection-proof" by that time, since it could take a good year or so even if Pope defaults on an Illinois case, and longer if he contests it. And to get to him you might in fact have to get behind the corporation, which means more time and effort, and without the proof you need (corporate records to prove he dealt improperly with corporate funds and might be liable to return them), it just gets more difficult. Your only other alternative would be to talk to a Florida attorney about the possibility of suing Pope directly under their laws, which I am not familiar with.

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Answered on 4/20/11, 8:15 pm


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