The rules on this vary from state to state: In some states, this sort of pressure might not be actionable—if the employer is free to fire someone, and you are free to stop doing business with the employer, you're free to threaten the employer with loss of business if it doesn't fire the person. But in other states, it may be tortious "interference with prospective economic advantage." Here's an Illinois decision handed down Friday, in Grako v. Bill Walsh Chevrolet-Cadillac, Inc. (written by Justice Adrienne Albrecht and joined by Justices Lance Peterson and Linda Davenport; see also Drake v. Dickey (Ind. Ct. App. 2013) for a similar holding):
Plaintiff alleged that [defendant] Walsh [the owner of the defendant car dealership] leveraged his status as a client of her former employer [Ramza Insurance Group] to secure her termination….
Based on the pleadings and depositions within the record, Grako filed for bankruptcy protection pursuant to federal law under Chapter 13 in November 2017. In June 2018, Grako returned a vehicle purchased from Bill Walsh Chevrolet-Cadillac, Inc., and discharged the associated debt.
The record reveals that Walsh had several personal insurance policies with Ramza Insurance. It also indicates that Bill Walsh-Chevrolet-Cadillac, Inc., bore the financial brunt of Grako's bankruptcy discharge of her vehicle. Walsh, an agent of Bill Walsh-Chevrolet-Cadillac, Inc., learned of the discharge in early November 2018. To Walsh's displeasure, the process of repossessing Grako's vehicle was at his expense. On November 7, he texted Grako, "R u kidding me after all I've done for you?" After exchanging texts the following day on the financial burden to retrieve the vehicle, Walsh concluded his conversation with Grako by stating: "We are pulling all of our business from ramza tomorrow."
Around this time, Walsh communicated his discontentment with Grako to his friend Schultz. Schultz [who had a business relationship with Ramza] chronicled their conversation in a string of text messages …, serving as an intermediary messenger between the displeased Ramza Insurance client and Ramza Insurance employees. According to Schultz, Walsh asked whether Grako worked at Ramza Insurance. Schultz's message also included the following:
