Chicago Business Attorney Blog

DOMA Implications for Illinois Small Businesses

On June 26, 2013 the SCOTUS in United States v. Windsor found Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional.  Section 3 had prohibited marriages between same-sex couples from being acknowledged by the federal government.  This meant that under DOMA same-sex couples were denied federal marriage benefits.

With the Supreme Court’s ruling in Windsor businesses are going to need to update and evaluate their current employee benefit plans.  Currently, the Windsor ruling only applies to the 12 states and the District Columbia that recognized same-sex marriage at the time of the ruling. 

A–Rod and his legal hassles:

Essentially, A–Rod was suspended for 211 games (the remainder of the 2013 season and all of the 2014 season).  The other 12 players were suspended for 50 games which were imposed under an agreement with MLB.  As part of the other 12 suspensions, they all agreed not to appeal.

A–Rod is the only one who chose to appeal.

Credit Card Processors come under government scrutiny.

Those credit card processors who promise substantial savings for processing Visa or MasterCard or bank credit cards have come under the scrutiny of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Washington State AG’s Office.  The complaints allege that these companies represent that they are associated with the business’s current credit card processor or a credit card company and offer significant savings with a fixed fee.  The hook comes later when the customer signs a long term contract that includes a number of additional charges. 

The FTC posted a notice about the charges on their web site: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/07/merchantservices.shtm.

One of the latest scams hitting the mailbox of corporations is an offer to prepare the corporate filing documents that need to be filed with the Secretary of State annually.   The letter looks official and looks like it comes from a state office in Springfield.  A return envelope is included to make it easy. 

But, it’s just another scam that targets small business owners.

We warned our clients about this scam in an email alert we sent to our clients in Wednesday November 21, 2012.  https://ui.constantcontact.com/rnavmap/emcf/email/view?flow=view&camefrom=view&agent.uid=1111559141824

Guidelines for terminating an at will employee in Illinois

At will employment is one of the most common forms of employer-employee relationship in Illinois.  If an employee is at will, he or she can be fired on any reasonable grounds, and the employer is not required to give the employee any warning leading up to termination. At will employment is not as simple as it appears on its face, and below I have outlined some of the major protections offered to at will employees in Illinois.

Termination Can’t Be Discriminatory

A Limited Liability Company, LLC, is an entity created by state statute.  What makes LLCs so attractive is that LLC members have limited personal liability for all of the LLC’s debts.  A LLC can be taxed as a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietor, depending on elections made by the LLC and the number of members. A LLC is always classified under federal law as one of these types of taxable entities.

A multi-member LLC, that has at least two members, can either be a partnership or a corporation.  To be treated as a corporation, a LLC has to file Form 8832, Entity Classification Election, and elect to be taxed as a corporation.  A multi-member LLC that does not elect to be classified as a corporation under federal law will be classified as a partnership.

A single member LLC can be either a corporation or a single member “disregarded entity.”  Again, to be treated under federal law as a corporation, the single member LLC has to file Form 8832 and elect to be classified as a corporation.  A single member LLC that does not elect to be a corporation will be classified by existing federal guidelines as a “disregarded entity” which is taxed as a sole proprietor for income tax purposes.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in two recent cases clarify what is necessary in order for an employee or former employee to bring and be successful in a discrimination or retaliation case against a former employer, including small business owners.

In University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, the Supreme Court held that a “but for” standard applies to discrimination cases. A jury must find that “but for” a supervisor’s desire to retaliate against an employee or former employee the discriminatory conduct or action would not have occurred.

A key change from this case is the insertion of the word “supervisor” and the clarification of who is considered a supervisor in these types of cases. The Court held that for purposes of a discrimination case, a supervisor is an individual who has broad managerial authority such as the ability to hire employees and terminate employment.

About Me: I’m George “Geo” Bellas, a passionate business litigation attorney sharing my experience in trial law.  I am the Principal and Senior Partner of Bellas & Wachowski – Attorneys at Law, based in Park Ridge, Illinois. I fight for the rights of business owners.  All of my clients are small businesses and owners of small businesses.

Lawyers protect rights and freedoms.  That is what I do for a living, and I am proud of it.  A lawyer is just one piece to the trial process, and the entire trial process is important to our ordered society. The trial process seeks the truth, which is ultimately defined by 12 ordinary citizens who listen to both sides of the case and decide what is right and what is wrong.

Each time a jury awards compensation to an injured person, it is speaking for the individual person against interests which otherwise would not be held accountable.  It is lawyers, such as myself, who stand with the individual in court seeking to hold others accountable. The system as a whole is not perfect, but it does attempt to achieve justice through a process that has as its ultimate goal seeking of truth. I am proud to be a lawyer.