COOK COUNTY RECORD

A medical transportation company and its general manager are suing a former employee they claim forged the manager's signature on a fake letter regarding unionization efforts.

Mark Nicks and Elite Medical Transportation filed suit Dec. 17 in Cook County Circuit Court against Justin Hamilton. Nicks is a Will County resident and the general manager of the Chicagoland ambulance service provider that Hamilton previously worked at.

According to the complaint, Elite Transportation’s employees made efforts to unionize this past spring and an election on unionization was scheduled for June 11 and 12. On May 29, Elite, through Nicks, sent an email to all of its employees about the situation with the union and the potential for the election to be rescheduled.

On June 9, the suit states, another email was sent to employees claiming to correct prior incorrect statements. It was purportedly sent by Elite and signed by Nicks, who claims, however, he never signed the letter.

When Nicks learned of the email on June 12, the complaint states he contacted the Mokena Police Department to report the fake letter and forgery. Police, after obtaining a subpoena, allegedly traced the Internet Protocol address to Hamilton's father, with whom the defendant lives.

The plaintiffs accuse Hamilton of misappropriating Nicks' name and conversion of Elite's letterhead, which forced them to spend time and money correcting the statements falsely attributed to them.

Nicks further claims he has suffered emotional distress and damage to his reputation as a result of the

Nicks seeks damages in excess of $30,000. He is represented by attorneys Daniel Lynch and Amanda Mlinarcik of Lynch Stern Thompson in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014L013039.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and represents only one side of the story.