On that particular Thursday, Ms Smiley didn't want anything to eat, so she stayed at her desk and worked. 'I thought, "Well, I'm not hungry; I'll just do this work … so when I get back from lunch, I can do my original work that I'm supposed to be doing,"' she said. A manager approached her and told her to take her break. When she remained at her desk, the manager got human resources involved, who argued that she was violating Illinois Labour Laws that require employers to give their workers a break.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaG_p6WSVQTSZEDpYQYZt3RmHSZofmlBuai6XjDQA7B7SGvNSV2rtcLInfY8DwIrc2RVa5Fd_LDbMjG0dye8YTbFZ3UJJmBtvB8-V80t3_AEMINV0StftNIllbwqZyfFXo3z2dXQ/s400/Sharon+Smiley.jpg)
Her employers, Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc., were likely already wary about Ms Smiley's workload since a stroke in July of the previous year which prompted her to miss about three months of work. Legally, the company had a right to be concerned about Ms Smiley's over-eager behaviour: the law says that employers are liable if they knowingly allow their employees to work during lunch. The company then fired her on the grounds that her refusal to go to lunch - the first time she'd ever done so - qualified as insubordination and considered her behaviour misconduct. On those grounds, they were able to deny payment of her unemployment benefits.
After pleading her case to lawyers who thought she was a lost cause, Ms Smiley decided to embark on the legal battle solo. Finally, after three denials from the state employment review board as well as a circuit court appeal all of which lasted two years, a judge ruled in her favour. Ms Smiley was awarded a percentage of her one-time salary and then $528 every two weeks until she found another job from the point the order was made. Thankfully, that wasn't too long: Ms Smiley is now a receptionist at a different company. It was never her intention to ask for her old job back, she was just looking for the unemployment benefits.
2 comments:
As they say, no good deed ever goes unpunished. It sounds like leaving was the best thing for her.
Beware: this is what happens when you allow trial lawyers to take over a country.
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