A Tennessee trucking company seeks to dismiss a former Missouri employee’s wrongful termination lawsuit for lack of personal jurisdiction.
DAP Trucking filed the motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction on Feb. 4 through attorney James G. Fahey of Springfield.
The defendant argues that plaintiff Carl Chehowski is a resident of Missouri and DAP Trucking is incorporated and headquartered in Tennessee with is principal place of business in Missouri.
The motion states that “plaintiffs have not – and cannot – plead sufficient facts to make a prima facie showing of either general or specific personal jurisdiction in this case. DAP Trucking is therefore not subject to personal jurisdiction in the State of Illinois and as such, plaintiff’s complaint should be dismissed in its entirety.”
DAP Trucking argues that Chehowski has failed to meet his burden establishing that the defendant is “essentially at home in Illinois.”
“While DAP Trucking’s drivers do travel through Illinois, this fact falls far short of establishing that DAP Trucking is ‘at home’ in Illinois,” the motion states.
“Furthermore, even though DAP Trucking is registered to do business in Illinois, this does not establish that DAP Trucking has consented to the exercise of general jurisdiction in Illinois,” it continues.
The defendant also argues that none of Chehowski’s allegations arise out of or relate to DAP Trucking’s contacts with Illinois.
The allegations allege failure to timely and fairly pay the plaintiff for earned vacation and failure to provide insurance.
“DAP Trucking’s payroll and benefits department operate entirely out of Tennessee, and are in no way connected to Illinois,” the motion states.
Chehowski filed his complaint on Jan. 3 through attorneys Brian Wendler, Angie Zinzilieta and Paul Rademacher of Wendler Law PC in Edwardsville.
Chehowski alleges he was hired as an employee of the defendant on Jan. 29, 2016. Upon being hired, he claims the defendant agreed to provide medical insurance and dental insurance with premiums withheld from paychecks in the amount of $148.03 per week for medical and $7.62 per week for dental insurance.
However, he alleges the defendant failed to provide insurance even though it deducted insurance premiums from the plaintiff’s paychecks, leaving him without insurance coverage.
He also alleges the defendant failed to pay his earned vacation pay.
Chehowski claims he complained of the issues to the company and was forced to resign in January 2018 to prevent him from reporting the defendant for log book falsification and for refusing to pay insurance premiums that had been deducted from paychecks.
He further alleges he incurred medical expenses due to lack of insurance.
The plaintiff seeks more than $50,000 in compensatory damages and more than $50,000 in punitive damages.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 19-L-9