Webber v. Wight & Company

              SIXTH DIVISION
November 9, 2006
No. 1-04-1622
MICHAEL A. WEBBER, ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
Plaintiff-Appellant and Cross-Appellee, ) Cook County.
)
v. ) No. 01 L 423
)
WIGHT & COMPANY, ) The Honorable
) John B. Grogan,
Defendant-Appellee and Cross-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding.
PRESIDING JUSTICE FITZGERALD SMITH delivered the opinion of the court:
Plaintiff-appellant and cross-appellee Michael A. Webber was employed by defendant-appellee
and cross-appellant Wight & Company (Wight & Co.) as its chief financial officer (CFO) from 1991 to
1999. Following his termination, Webber filed a retaliatory discharge claim, alleging that he was fired
because he objected to Wight & Co.'s accounting practices, which he believed were illegal and/or
improper. The cause proceeded to a jury trial, and the jury returned a verdict for Wight & Co. Wight &
Co. then moved for sanctions against Webber pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 137 (155 Ill. 2d R. 137),
claiming that Webber filed his complaint knowing his allegations were false. The trial court denied this
motion. Webber appeals the jury's verdict, asserting that the trial court erred by refusing to grant his
proposed jury instructions, by refusing to let him testify that the accounting practices in question were
illegal, and by allowing certain documents into evidence. He asks that we reverse the verdict below and
remand the cause for a new trial. Wight & Co., meanwhile, has filed a cross-appeal from the denial of its
posttrial motion, asserting that the trial court erred in not imposing sanctions upon Webber for his
violation of Rule 137. Wight & Co. asks that we reverse the denial of its motion and that Webber be
ordered to pay attorney fees as a sanction. For the following reasons, we affirm both the jury's verdict
and the trial court's denial of the motion for sanctions.
BACKGROUND
Wight & Co. is a privately owned architectural and engineering firm with one shareholder: Mark
Wight. Webber, who is a financial consultant, had known Wight for some time and began doing