Dunahee v. Chenoa Welding & Fabrication, Inc.

652 N.E.2d 438, 273 Ill. App. 3d 201, 209 Ill. Dec. 898, 1995 Ill. App. LEXIS 510
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 30, 1995
Docket4-95-0032
StatusPublished
Cited by50 cases

This text of 652 N.E.2d 438 (Dunahee v. Chenoa Welding & Fabrication, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dunahee v. Chenoa Welding & Fabrication, Inc., 652 N.E.2d 438, 273 Ill. App. 3d 201, 209 Ill. Dec. 898, 1995 Ill. App. LEXIS 510 (Ill. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

PRESIDING JUSTICE KNECHT

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff Brenda Dunahee brought suit against defendant Chenoa Welding and Fabrication, Inc., under section 706.1(G) of the Rlinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Act) (750 ILCS 5/706.KG) (West 1994)). Plaintiff sought a penalty against defendant for its failure to send to her, on a timely basis, child support payments withheld from the wages of defendant’s employee, Lawrence Feit, plaintiff’s ex-husband. The trial court rendered judgment for defendant, and plaintiff now appeals. We reverse and remand.

Plaintiff brought suit seeking a penalty against defendant for failure to comply with section 706.1(G) of the Act, which requires an employer to forward child support withheld from an employee’s wages within 10 days of paying the employee. At trial, plaintiff called Kathy Wochner, secretary and treasurer of defendant. She was in charge of paying employees. She recalled receiving a certified notice in March 1994 requiring defendant to withhold child support payments from its employee Feit’s wages. She was already withholding his wages at the time. The order of withholding stated the withheld amounts must be paid within three business days, but she did not read it. She withheld Feit’s wages every week, but would keep it for a period of time before forwarding it to the clerk of the court.

Defendant has only five employees: herself, her husband, her son, and two other employees. This was the first order of withholding with which she had ever been involved. She started withholding Feit’s pay in December 1993, after he requested she do so. There was no court order in effect at that time. She did not know the procedure for withholding, so she called the clerk of the court’s office to find out how to do so. The court order of withholding arrived in March 1994. She continued withholding the same as before.

Plaintiff testified that she received her child support checks in groups of three or four at a time prior to July 1994. She saw Wochner in a grocery store checkout line. Plaintiff asked Wochner:

"if she knew the procedure and that I wasn’t working two jobs because I thought it was a good time, it’s because I need to support three kids and I need that money. And I said is there a reason why, and she said well, it’s just easier and it saves on stamps, and she says I’m sorry, I didn’t know the procedure, I’ll get the checks right in the mail.”

When the checks still took another three to four weeks to arrive, plaintiff sought legal help. She had no other contact with defendant. Although she knew defendant was not following the correct procedure after the order of withholding was entered, she did not contact it, but told Feit about the delays. She had received all the support which was due.

Plaintiff admitted, without objection, copies of checks sent by defendant to the clerk of the court.

Testifying for the defense, Wochner resumed the stand. When plaintiff talked to her in the grocery store:

"She asked me if I took money out of [Feit’s] check every week, and I said yes I do and [Feit] had been having some problems at that time, or something, he wasn’t coming to work on a regular basis, and there were some weeks that I took it out and he didn’t have any money left, but I did, I did take it out every week, and it was certainly (unclear) But anyway, she told me it would be in [Feit’s] best interest if I got those checks to her every week.”

Wochner believed plaintiff wanted her to get involved in the domestic dispute, which she makes a practice of not doing. Defendant’s employee, Feit, never brought up the issue of withholding.

Prior to rendering judgment, the trial court noted the employer penalty provision requires the penalty be computed based on when the employer pays its employee, not when the employer pays the clerk of the court or the obligee, and plaintiffs evidence — defendant’s checks to the clerk of the court — did not show when defendant paid its employee, Feit. Plaintiff believed the checks were sufficient, but moved to reopen the case to recall Wochner to the stand to clarify when defendant paid Feit. The trial court denied the motion, declaring the statute was so punitive, its application in this instance, $12,000 according to plaintiffs calculations, would shock the conscience. The trial court believed good faith by the defendant and the lack of notice given by the plaintiff must be considered in whether to award the fine. The trial court rendered judgment in favor of defendant, finding the allegations not proved. Plaintiff made an offer of proof, recalling Wochner, who testified defendant’s employee, Feit, was paid the same day the money was withheld from his wages. Plaintiff now appeals,' arguing the trial court’s judgment was an abuse of discretion and against the manifest weight of evidence.

Plaintiff asserts the employer penalty provision of section 706.1(G)(1) of the Act is mandatory; defendant asserts it is not. Section 706.1(G)(1) of the Act declares:

"It shall be the duty of any payor who has been served with a copy of the specially certified order for withholding and any notice of delinquency to deduct and pay over income as provided in this subsection. *** The payor shall pay the amount withheld to the obligee or public office within 10 calendar days of the date income is paid to the obligor in accordance with the order for withholding and any subsequent notification received from the public office redirecting payments. If the payor knowingly fails to pay any amount withheld to the obligee or public office within 10 calendar days of the date income is paid to the obligor, the payor shall pay a penalty of $100 for each day that the withheld amount is not paid to the obligee or public office after the period of 10 calendar days has expired. The failure of a payor, on more than one occasion, to pay amounts withheld to the obligee or public office within 10 calendar days of the date income is not paid to the obligor creates a presumption that the payor knowingly failed to pay the amounts. This penalty may be collected in a civil action which may be brought against the payor in favor of the obligee.” 750 ILCS 5/706.1(G)(l) (West 1994).

The primary rule of statutory construction, to which all other rules are subordinate, is to ascertain and give effect to the true intent of the legislature. In determining the legislative intent, a court should first consider the statutory language. Where the statutory language is clear, it will be given effect without resort to other aids for construction. However, where the language is ambiguous, it is appropriate to examine the legislative history. (People ex rel. Baker v. Cowlin (1992), 154 Ill. 2d 193, 197, 607 N.E.2d 1251, 1253.) In determining legislative intent, a court may consider the reason and necessity for the law, the evils to be remedied, and the objects to be attained. In addition, a court construing the language of a statute will assume that the legislature did not intend to produce an absurd or unjust result. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Yapejian (1992), 152 Ill.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
652 N.E.2d 438, 273 Ill. App. 3d 201, 209 Ill. Dec. 898, 1995 Ill. App. LEXIS 510, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dunahee-v-chenoa-welding-fabrication-inc-illappct-1995.