Find Court Cases > Go Back to List > Minifee v. Doherty

Minifee v. Doherty

Case Date: 09/13/2002
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-01-3670 Rel

SIXTH DIVISION

September 13, 2002


No. 1-01-3670

 

MARCINE MINIFEE ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
                      Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County
)
        v. ) No. 96 L 51406
)
LYNN Q. DOHERTY, Director, The Department of ) Honorable
Employment Security; The Board of Review; and Its ) ALEXANDER P. WHITE,
Members Individually, ROLLAND W. LEWIS, JOHN ) Judge Presiding.
CASHMAN, STANLEY MUCHA, and JON WALKER, )
)
                     Defendants-Appellants )
)
(Illinois Bell Telephone Company, )
)
                    Defendant.) )

 

JUSTICE GALLAGHER delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from a final order of the circuit court in an action for administrativereview of the decision of defendant Board of Review of the Department of Employment Security(Board) concerning plaintiff Marcine Minifee's claim for unemployment benefits. The circuitcourt reversed the Board's decision and declared invalid the regulation that was relied upon by theBoard. The court also awarded plaintiff's counsel attorney fees based upon the invalidation of thestatute. We reverse.

Plaintiff worked for defendant Illinois Bell Telephone Co. (Bell) for 27 years. Sheaccepted an early retirement package and stopped working for Bell on December 31, 1994. Belloffered plaintiff a retirement payment of $864.07 each month for the rest of her life or the optionof a lump-sum payment of $153,297.08. The lump-sum payment was derived from the presentvalue of the $864.07 per month and was determined using a calculation that took interest rates andmortality tables into consideration. Plaintiff decided to accept the lump-sum payment of$153,297.08, and she subsequently rolled this sum over into a retirement account. After leavingBell, plaintiff worked for H.R. Management Services, Inc., for a few months. She left this job onJune 23, 1995, and sought unemployment benefits.

The subsequent procedural history of this case, from the time of plaintiff's application forunemployment benefits in 1995 to the present time of this appeal in 2002, need not be describedin detail, but suffice it to say that it involved a series of events including several administrativehearings and appeals, a decision by the Board, an administrative review action, a remandment bythe circuit court, a supplemental decision by the Board, a second administrative review action, anaffirmance by the circuit court, a motion to reconsider by plaintiff, a reversal by the circuit court, amotion to reconsider by the State defendants, a remandment to the Board, a supplemental decisionby the Board, a return to the circuit court at which time Bell- with leave of court - filed a briefand finally the circuit court judgment of September 7, 2001, which is the subject of this appeal.

The issue presented is whether the department regulation found at 56 Ill. Adm. Code