Offer letter puts options trader’s bonus claim out of the money

Under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA), an employer must pay separated employees their final compensation by the next regularly scheduled payday. A recent Illinois appellate court decision examined an employee’s claim that she was denied an earned bonus as part of her final compensation. Read on to learn why the employer isn’t on the hook for a bonus worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Long position

ZongZong Tao was an options trader for Simplex Investments, LLC. She was hired in January 2015 with an offer letter that stated she would be eligible for participation in the company’s bonus plan. Specifically, the offer letter provided that the Simplex “discretionary bonus plan pays annual year-end bonuses for excellent performance.”

From 2015 through 2019, Tao received substantial annual bonuses from Simplex, ranging from $275,000 to $600,000. The bonus amounts depended on the company’s overall profits for the year. According to her, Erik Swanson and Matt Zimmerman (the company’s CEO and head of trading respectively) called the shots on the bonuses for the company’s employees.

Expiration