Corporate Investigations + Labor and Employment Law
Susan M. Benton
Practice
Attorney Susan M. Benton - Corporate Investigations; Labor and Employment Law located in the heart of downtown Chicago.
Experience
Sue Benton is the Managing Member of Benton Firm LLC in Chicago, IL. In this role, Sue acts as a counselor and litigator to clients providing solutions to their immediate and long-term labor-management and employment concerns. Sue also is regularly retained by companies and Boards of Directors to conduct investigations into allegations of management misconduct as well as allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct.
Additionally, Sue has assisted clients in a range of industries, including professional services, consulting, broadcast, law firms, financial services, insurance, communications, technology, manufacturing, and distribution, on an international, national and regional basis as counselor, investigator, negotiator, and trial attorney before state and federal trial and appellate courts, the NLRB and other administrative bodies, self-regulatory authorities.
Sue’s experience includes investigating, counseling, negotiating and litigating class/collective actions, multi –plaintiff, single plaintiff and individual matters involving employment discrimination, sexual and other forms of harassment, retaliation, whistleblower protections under state and federal law, wrongful termination, FMLA and state leave laws, ERISA, employee benefits, unfair labor practice charges, union organizing, collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, FINRA arbitration, executive compensation, FLSA and state wage/hour laws, WARN Act and state mini-WARN acts, HIPAA, employment contracts, separation agreements, defamation, confidentiality agreements, restrictive covenants, trade secret protection and related labor and employment torts. Sue also serves as outside general counsel to an executive search firm. In this role, she provides advice and counsel on a wide range of legal issues.
Prior to starting Benton Firm LLC, in Chicago, Sue was a partner at large international law firms for more than 25 years.
Bar Admissions
Sue is admitted to practice in Illinois and before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth and Seventh Circuits, U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (including Trial Bar), U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan and U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan.
Community Involvement
The Field Museum of Natural History
- Trustee
- Chair, Museum’s Deaccession Committee
- Member, Science Action Committee
- Member, Collections Committee
Youth Guidance
- Member, Board of Directors
- Working on Womanhood (W.O.W.) Advisory Council
Plan International USA
- Member, Board of Directors
Academy for Urban School Leadership
- Board of Directors, 2002-2013
Awards & Recognition
- The College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, Fellow
- American Bar Foundation, Fellow
- Illinois Leading Lawyers, Management Labor and Employment Law
- Illinois Leading Lawyers, Top 100 Women Lawyers
- Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell for 20 consecutive years
Articles
- Co-Author, “Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk: When is Leaving Work ‘Work’?” Westlaw Journal Employment, November 2014
- Author, “Strategic Perspectives - Best Practices: Designing a Defensible Unpaid Internship,” Employment Law Daily, May 2014
Education
- J.D., Boston University School of Law
- M.B.A., University of Missouri – St. Louis
- B.A., Psychology, University of Missouri – St. Louis
