About 20 years ago, a buddy of mine and I rented out the gym at DePaul for a New Year's Eve party. We hired a couple of bands, put of posters around town, took out ads in the Reader and sold tickets. We didn't crush it, but didn't lose any money either and it was a good time so all and all it was a win.

The reality is that we had no idea what we were doing and kind of lucked out that we didn't lose a ton of money. Our biggest issue ended up being dealing with someone who lost a coat.

A few weeks ago, the modern day version of our party took place in the Bahamas with something called The Fyre Festival. It was a complete bust, except that instead of people escaping our party by catching a cab or the train, the people in the Bahamas were stranded with very little food, water or shelter. There have been at least seven lawsuits since.

Last week, the boss of all this, Billy McFarland, held a conference call with all of his employees, who already have had to deal with the embarrassment and hassle of being associated with this nonsense, and told them that "payroll has been suspended."

He didn't say they were fired or laid off, just that they won't be getting paid for now. So they could keep on doing whatever work there is, but don't expect any money for that work or past work.

I see this type of nonsense all of the time with Illinois employers. It's a good news, bad news situation.

The good news should always come first and that is that if this happens to you (and it doesn't mean your paycheck is a day or two late) you should immediately stop working and file for unemployment which you should be granted (nerdy lawyer disclaimer, don't do this without talking to a lawyer first). The Fyre Festival people aren't quitting or resigning, they were "constructively fired" when they weren't paid for the work that they did. Only a fool would do more work at this point. Get your unemployment and a new job unless they catch up on all of the money they owe you.

The bad news is that your employer is likely going out of business which means there's a great chance you'll never get paid for the work you've done. If they file a chapter 7, you'll never see a dime most likely. What you can do and should do is immediately file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor, especially if they are staying in business. You could also file a lawsuit which would force their hand. As a business they can't represent themselves in court so they'd have to either pay you or pay a lawyer.

The Fyre Festival was an ambitious disaster. The employees are going to get screwed over for sure. The best bet is to cut their losses, get what they can from unemployment and move on to the next thing. Same for you if it happens to you.