Appeals filed in state employee pay suits

Two appeals have been filed to block a circuit court order requiring that state employees be paid in full during the current budget standoff.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan appealed the St. Clair County Circuit Court ruling that employees must be paid to the Fifth District Appellate Court.

In addition, the AG filed an emergency motion with the Illinois Supreme Court asking it to consolidate the St. Clair County appeal with the appeal that AFSCME and other unions filed of a conflicting Cook County Circuit Court order.

The Cook County court ruled that in the absence of an FY 16 budget, only certain employees could be paid at all -- and those employees could not be paid more than the minimum wage pursuant to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

In St. Clair County, Judge Robert LeChien affirmed the unions’ argument that failure to pay employees their full salaries pursuant to collective bargaining agreements violates the state constitutional prohibition against impairment of contract.

The Attorney General asks the Supreme Court to allow a direct appeal of the underlying lawsuits because “expeditious resolution is needed due to conflicting orders already entered by different circuit courts”.

The Supreme Court has given AFSCME and other unions until July 20 to respond to the Attorney General’s motion for direct appeal and the consolidation of the two cases.