Page 2 - John Hundley 2010

Welcoming Jana Yocom

The Sharp Law Firm, P.C. is pleased to announce that Jana Yocom, member of the bars of the states
of Missouri, Illinois and Texas and of the United States District Courts for the Southern and Central
Districts of Illinois, has joined the firm.
Jana holds her law degree, with Special Honors, from the University of Iowa and a bachelor’s degree,
with Highest Honors, in Agricultural Communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign. She commenced her practice with a major Metro-East Illinois law firm in 1986 before
moving to Texas, from which she returned to join The Sharp Law Firm last month.
Jana has extensive experience in commercial litigation and business transactions. Her practice also includes estate
planning and probate litigation. While in Texas, she also served as an advocate for disabled children in school districts
and addressed due process concerns leading to the provision of alternative educational opportunities for children with
learning disabilities. She also developed procedural strategies to assist domestic violence survivors in district court. Her
original legal analysis has been developed as a model for large non-denominational churches.
Jana may be reached at our Mt. Vernon office, 618-242-0246, Jyocom@lotsharp.com.
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class action lawsuit has been filed.

However, those provisions had different impacts for two sub-groups of employees. As to those for
whom the deduction resulted in their receiving less than the minimum wage, the court found that
the settlement ran afoul of IMWL’s “unreasonable and oppressive wage” clause and was void.

As to those for whom the wage after the 25¢ deduction was still above the statutory minimum, resort to
the IWPCA was necessary – but the court thought the IWPCA language did not explicitly address whether
“an employer can privately settle a wage claim with an employee earning more than minimum wage.”
Moreover, it felt no Illinois cases had specifically addressed that issue. Accordingly, it reasoned that
cases under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.) should be consulted in
interpreting the IWPCA provision because of similarities between the two acts. Finding that most
federal cases found such settlements void, the Appellate Court implied that it thought the
settlement agreements were invalid under the IWPCA also.
However, its answer to the certified question in this part of its opinion was that “releases signed by
putative class members earning less than minimum wage after deducting $0.25 under the food deduction
program are void as a matter of law” – which actually addresses only the first sub-group of employees.
Accordingly, employers who attempt to settle such claims without a lawsuit having been
filed may be able to argue that they did not willfully violate the IWPCA – but they also may
find that such settlements aren’t worth the paper they’re written upon.
Meanwhile, fans of the popular Chicagoland eatery are left with a nagging question:
How does anyone stop eating at $2 of Giordano’s pizza? One inference is that the stated
$10 consideration for the releases was nominal and that many employees freely disso-
ciated themselves from the class action because they thought the 25¢-an-hour deduction
was a deal. So viewed, the decision raises concerns about how a disgruntled minority
may use the class action device to block employer relations with harmonious employees.

John\Sharp Thinking\#28.doc
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THE SHARP LAW FIRM, P.C.

1115 Harrison, P.O. Box 906, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864 • Telephone 618-242-0246 • Facsimile 618-242-1170 • www.thesharpfirm.com

Business Transactions • Litigation • Financial Law • Problem Finances • Real Estate • Corporate • Commercial Disputes • Creditors’ Rights •
Arbitration • White Collar Criminal Defense • Employment Matters • Estate Planning • Probate

Terry Sharp: law@lotsharp.com; John T. Hundley: Jhundley@lotsharp.com;
David J. Grindle, Dgrindle@lotsharp.com; Jana Yocom, Jyocom@lotsharp.com;
Real Estate Closing and Title Services, see www.sharptitleservices.com

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