Hytel Group, Inc. v Butler

Following her termination as Controller of Hytel, Ms. Butler filed a claim with the Illinois Department of Labor to recover her withheld wages for the last few days of her employment. In retaliation, Hytel slapped Ms. Butler with a multi-million dollar lawsuit in Du Page Circuit Court. We appeared on Ms. Butler’s behalf and moved for the dismissal of the entire lawsuit under Illinois’ Citizens Participation Act. This newly enacted Act is intended to prevent “SLAPP” suits (that is, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), the intent of which are to intimidate and coerce citizens from exercising their fundamental rights of participating in government and free speech. We successfully moved for dismissal of the suit. On appeal, the dismissal was affirmed and the award of Ms. Butler’s attorneys’ fees in pursuing her motion in the lower court was also affirmed. Click here to see a copy of the appellate court decision.