Jones v. Illinois

In Jones v. Illinois, 55 Ill.Ct.Cl. 414, 417 (2002), the claimant, an IDOC employee and AFSCME member, brought a wrongful termination suit, alleging she was discharged without cause in violation of the union's collective bargaining agreement. During the underlying employer-employee grievance process, the union settled the grievance on behalf of the claimant by entering into a Resolution Prior to Arbitration, Therein, the claimant waived any remaining procedural rights against IDOC, including any right to sue. Id. The Court held that the claimant was barred from pursuing her claim in the Court of Claims and dismissed it with prejudice for failure to exhaust administrative remedies -- procedural remedies such as arbitration she would have been able to pursue but for the settlement agreement -- and by virtue of the underlying settlement. Jones, 55 Ill.Ct.Cl. at 417.