Finn v. Project Resource Solutions, LLC

Defendants appealed from two judgments entered against them after a joint jury trial and bench trial in which the jury returned a verdict for money damages on claims premised on defamation per se. The trial court considered a claim brought under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act and although it found that plaintiff’s claim failed under the statute, it awarded him damages pursuant to quantum meruit/unjust enrichment. Defendants appealed, arguing that the trial court failed to properly instruct the jury and that the court erred when it entered judgment based on a legal theory the plaintiff did not plead. The appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part, finding that the defendants forfeited their objection to the jury instructions but that the trial court erred in granting sua sponte relief under a claim that was not pled by the plaintiff in the complaint. (HOWSE and McBRIDE, concurring)