Legal Question in Employment Law in Illinois
Recently a Co-Worker of mine was fired and subsequently arrested for theft. We had been reporting her in the months leading up to this, and we were grateful when the hammer finally came down. She has since indicated to another coworker and friend of hers that she plans on suing me and a coworker and friend of mine. She is claiming that we lied about her stealing things in order to get her employment terminated. This is not true and I wanted to make sure that she does not have any solid case.
1 Answer from Attorneys
It is often best to avoid reporting negative things about coworkers unless you have strong evidence that they actually did what you say they did. I don't know what kind of evidence you have she was stealing. I'm guessing your employer didn't just go by what you told them, but I don't know that for certain. If it turns out she can prove she didn't steal, then she may have a suit against you. Also, there is nothing stopping anyone from filing suit whether or not they have a solid case. Even if you are in the right, having a suit filed against you is no walk in the park, and if it is an invalid case it can still take a long time to be dismissed. On the other hand, it costs money to file a suit and not everyone who threatens to sue actually follows through. I would recommend writing down the evidence you have of the theft and what you actually reported to your company, and keep that in a safe place just in case. If you are sued, I recommend finding a competent attorney to represent you.