Ryherd v. General Cable Co.

In Gonzalez v. Prestress Engineering Corp. (1986), 115 Ill. 2d 1, we held that Federal law does not preempt an employee’s claim that his employer tortiously discharged him in retaliation for the filing of a workers’ compensation claim, even though the employee is covered by a collective-bargaining agreement and could have grieved his discharge to arbitration. The case at bar raises two questions: First, whether we should overrule Gonzalez, and, second, whether an employee who actually grieves his discharge claim to arbitration is thereby precluded from seeking to recover in court for…