Elaine Bolam v. My Poor Wife/ Bassett Furniture Direct, O'Fallon

Filed : September 2, 2004

Judge: Moran

Named Plaintiffs: Elaine Bolam, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated.

Plaintiff’s Attorney: Lanny H. Darr, II of Schrempf, Blaine, Kelly & Darr, Ltd. In Alton

Complaint : The Plaintiffs claim My Poor Wife (MPW) refused to pay commissions owed sales reps in violation of Illinois and Missouri wage laws.

Bolam worked for MPW’s Basset Furniture Direct store in O’Fallon as a commissioned salesperson, with no hourly wage.

She claims that on her last day as an employee of MPW, Bolam sold merchandise that wasn’t delivered until later. According to Bolam’s complaint, MPW never paid Bolam the commissions from those sales.

Background: The facts here may be novel, although sales commissions have been the subject of class actions in the past.

In 2001, Xerox was sued for denying commissions to African-American sales reps.

Landers Auto Sales, the owner of car dealerships across the South, is being sued in Arkansas for "bilking" its commissioned salespeople.

04-L-949