Author: Rock Fusco Connelly LLC
Beyond Contract Liability: When a General Contractor Has to Pay a Subcontractor He Never Hired
The general rule concerning contracts holds that the only parties that can be held liable are those that signed the contract. In other words, you or your business generally can’t be held liable for a contract you did not sign. This simple rule is fundamental to contracts in the construction business. A general contractor hires
New Laws for the New Year
With the ringing in of a new year, more than 200 new laws have become effective in Illinois. Below are some of the most important laws which were enacted and what they might mean for you or your business. Pregnancy Discrimination (HB8 / PA 98-1050) Perhaps the biggest new law of the year for businesses
Corporations, Sexual Harassment, and the IGVA
In 2003, the Illinois General Assembly passed the “Gender Violence Act” (“IGVA”). The act stated that any person subjected to gender-related violence as defined by the act could bring a civil action for damages against a “person or persons.” While the Act appears to be relatively straightforward on its face, recent Supreme Court cases such
The Gray Area Of Anti-SLAPP
In 2007, the Illinois General Assembly enacted the Citizen Participation Act. The Act was designed for the quick dismissal of “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation,” or SLAPPs. The General Assembly found that firms, developers, and other entities were using the legal system to attack and bankrupt opponents that took public action against them. A heavily
White Collar Wage Wars
There has been an exponential boom in the amount of cases being filed against corporations. In 2006 and 2007, the likes of Citigroup, UPS, IBM, Sony, and Carnival Cruise Lines paid out over $260 million in settlements for unpaid overtime cases. While overtime lawsuits are not new, multi-million dollar settlements have been in the past
Buyers Beware: Seventh Circuit Holds Asset Purchaser Liable for Target Company’s Fair Labor Standards Act Violations under Successor-in-Interest Liability
In the world of mergers and acquisition law, corporations and their attorneys have long used asset purchases to avoid a target company’s unsavory liabilities. The strategy is relatively straight-forward: by purchasing the target’s assets only, the buyer typically avoids the target’s liabilities, which the buyer would otherwise have to assume in a merger or stock
When Does a Primary Insurer Have a Duty to Advise an Insured of Potential Excess Policy Exposure
An insurance company’s duty to its insured does not end with the appointment of counsel. Rather, it extends past that and requires a primary insurer keep their insured abreast of the litigation progress, status and, as described in length in R.C. Wegman Construction Co. v. Admiral Insurance Co., that there would be excess insurance exposure
The Illinois Business Corporation Act’s Survival Statute for Suits against Dissolved Corporations
In the recent case of Pielet v. Pielet, 365 Ill. Dec. 497 (Ill. 2012), the Illinois Supreme Court discussed when a plaintiff may sue a dissolved corporation under Section 12.80 of the Illinois Business Corporation Act, also referred to as the “Survival Statute.” In Pielet, the Pielets, a husband who died during the litigation and
How Facebook Posts Are Protected Under The NLRA
THE DIGITAL WATER COOLER: HOW FACEBOOK POSTS ARE PROTECTED UNDER THE NLRA THE LAW: The National Labor Relations Act was created to protect the rights of employees. One such right was for employees to act together to address conditions at work. The common image is of employees standing around the water cooler, complaining about the
The Cat, The Monkey, And The Liable Employer
A monkey convinces a cat to reach into a fire to extract some roasting chestnuts. The cat burns its paws and loses all of the chestnuts to the monkey. The monkey escapes unharmed, free to perform the same con all over again. The term “cat’s paw” seems out of place in the middle of a