Business owners throughout Illinois must comply with applicable withholding statutes or risk a hefty fine. In April, a Cook County judge ruled that a car dealership’s failure to withhold approximately $8,000 in child support from an employee’s paycheck, had to pay a $100 a day penalty spanning from March 31, 2009, to April 7, 2011, bringing the penalty to more than $2.26 million.
The ex-wife of the employee who owed the child support sued the dealership in 2010, claiming that they intentionally did not withhold payments, claiming that their employee was a independent contractor rather than a direct employee of the dealership. The judge, seeing through the alleged ruse, said the dealership’s actions could not be classified as a simple clerical error or mistake, and as a result, the dealership needed to pay the plaintiff penalties for more than two years of delays in processing the $230 dollar a week child support payment to the tune of millions.
Recent Update On the Illinois Child Support Case
In a recent development this month, the judge in the above child support case signed off on a settlement between the parties, effectively vacating the judge’s earlier judgement concerning the unpaid child support. Although, the terms of the settlement were not disclosed, presumably the dealership, the ex-wife and her attorneys arrived at a number they all could live with to avoid additional litigation. The sanctions originally requested by the plaintiff stood at just under a million.
The settlement only applies to the dealership, including its owners and employees, however. The plaintiff and her attorneys are still pursuing the dealership’s attorney for attorney fees resulting from unnecessarily extending the litigation over 5 years.
Contact a Libertyville, Illinois Child Support Lawyer
Employers who do not withhold and send child support payments as ordered are subject to penalties in every state. If you are owed child support and are experiencing difficulties with your ex-spouse’s employer complying with a withholding order or if your spouse is not meeting his or her obligation otherwise, contact the Law Offices of Ronald L. Bell PC for help.
Source: Cook County Record, “Deal Slices $2.3 Million Unpaid Child Support Judgement VS Hersher Car Dealer; Sanctions Still Pending”, by Jonathan Bilyk, August 30, 2016.