Moran Club Countersues Bar Manager It Fired

JOLIET, IL — Last November, Joliet Patch broke an exclusive story, revealing that Plainfield resident Charlotte Faciano was suing the Moran Athletic Club, claiming the Joliet not-for-profit social club illegally violated the terms of her bar manager contract.

Faciano sued the club, which has been existence since 1931, for lost wages, her lost tip income, for 2 percent of the unpaid wages, plus she was seeking attorneys fees and court costs. She claimed that a two-thirds majority of Moran's board never recommended her contract be terminated.

In recent months, Moran Athletic Club has retained the legal services of the Joliet law firm McNamara Phelan McSteen, LLC., to fight the lawsuit. As a result, one of the firm's lawyers, Brian Cichon, has filed a counter-lawsuit against Faciano for breach of her bar manager contract.

According to the latest filings from the Moran Club's lawyers, Faciano visited Moran socially while claiming she was working and collecting money in violation of the contract.

The terms of her Sept. 1, 2019 employment contract called for the Moran Club to employ her as its bar manager for one year at a yearly wage of $31,200 based on 40 hours of work.

"Charlotte falsified her time records to show that she worked at times for which she was not present or was not working and collected pay for those," lawyers with McNamara Phelan McSteen argued. "Moran paid Charlotte for times that she should not have been paid based upon her falsified time records. Charlotte has received money from Moran that she was not entitled to receive."

The McDonough Street law firm contends that Moran A.C. has been injured by paying out wages to Faciano for which she was not entitled.

The lawyers for the Moran Club, 1207 Nicholson St., now want a Will County judge to determine that the Plainfield woman violated her employment contract, falsified her time records and for her to compensate Moran A.C. for any and all wages she received in violation of her contract.