Hare v. Zitek

414 F.Supp.2d 834

Richey A. HARE, Sr., Plaintiff v. John ZITEK, individually and in his official capacity as Chief of Police of the Stickney Police Department, the Village of Stickney Police Department, Donald Tabor, individually and in his official capacity as President of the Village of Stickney, and the Village of Stickney, a municipal corporation, Defendants.

No. 02 C 3973.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

December 15, 2005.

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Richard J. Reimer, Thomas Steven Radja, Jr., Richard J. Reimer & Associates, LLC, Hinsdale, IL, for Plaintiff.

Larry J. Chilton, Joseph R. Vallort, Chilton Yambert Porter & Young, David Philip Schippers, Schippers & Bailey, Donald J. Kreger, Ruth E. Krugly, Schiff Hardin LLP, Chicago, IL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

KEYS, United States Magistrate Judge.

Richey Hare joined the Stickney Police Department in 1986. In 2002, he sued the department, as well as the Village of Stickney, Stickney's Chief of Police (John Zitek), and Stickney's Mayor (Donald Tabor), alleging that these defendants retaliated against him because he uncovered and exposed corruption within the Police Department and within the Village. Specifically, he claims that the defendants harassed and intimidated him, going so far as to attempt to trump up a sexual assault case against him, all in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and in furtherance of a conspiracy to violate 42 U.S.C. 4 1983. The case is before the Court on a motion for summary judgment filed by the defendants.

Factual Background

A. Richey Hare, John Zitek & the Stickney Police Department

Richey Hare has served as a member of the Stickney Police Department since 1986. (Hare Dep. 6/13/03 pp. 59, 70). He served initially as an auxiliary or reserve police officer, was promoted up through the ranks, and eventually attained the rank of Lieutenant. (Hare Dep. 6/13/03 pp. 59, 70). In May of 1999, he became "Commander" when the previous Commander died suddenly; the Commander position, which is sometimes referred to as the "Chief of Detectives" and was, at that time, second in command only to the Chief, was created under John Zitek, who has served as Stickney's Chief of Police since June 1993. (Hare Dep. 6/13/03 pp. 70-72; Zitek Dep. 6/23/04 pp. 5, 17, 27-28, 65-67; Plaintiffs Exhibit 10 — Rules and Regulations of Stickney Police Department, Table of Organization).¹

Chief Zitek recommended that Mr. Hare be promoted to the Commander post because, in his view, Mr. Hare was "a very good officer," he was "competent" and "bright." (Zitek Deposition p. 68). Despite this endorsement, it is clear that there is no love lost between Chief Zitek and Mr. Hare. The parties agree that the relationship between the two was, at least after Mr. Hare became Commander, frosty. And both parties agree that, to the extent it was intact at the time, the relationship between Mr. Hare and Chief Zitek totally broke down on July 17, 2000.

B. The Heather Hanlon Incident

That day, Mr. Hare returned to work after a vacation and learned that Heather Hanlon, a radio dispatcher who had been hired by Chief Zitek in 1997, had forged his computer signature to run a criminal background check through the National Crime Information Center. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 p. 198; Hanlon Dep. p. 8). When Mr. Hare confirmed that Ms. Hanlon had used his name for a criminal background check, he reported her conduct to Chief Zitek and requested Ms. Hanlon's resignation, as well as a letter from Ms. Hanlon stating that she used Mr. Hare's name to run a background check without his authorization. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 pp. 204-205). According to Mr. Hare, Chief Zitek initially agreed with him. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 p. 205). Mr. Hare then called Ms. Hanlon at her house and asked for her letter of resignation, which she brought to the Police Department within an hour. (Hare Dep. pp. 205-207).

Mr. Hare then made a copy of Ms. Hanlon's letter and brought it to Chief Zitek's office. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 p. 211). At that time, Chief Zitek advised Mr. Hare that he had decided not to fire Ms. Hanlon, but that he had decided instead to suspend her for two months. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 p. 212). Mr. Hare replied that he already had her letter of resignation and that he was not willing to accept any lesser punishment for her than that. (Hare Dep. pp. 8/13/03 pp. 212-213). Mr. Hare maintained that if Ms. Hanlon did not resign, the only other alternative would be to prosecute her criminally, because her conduct constituted a felony. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 pp. 213-214). Mr. Hare and Chief Zitek continued to argue about whether Mr. Hare would be able to bring criminal charges. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 214-217). Finally, according to Mr. Hare's testimony, Chief Zitek stated that the only way Ms. Hanlon was going to jail was if Chief Zitek went with her, and Mr. Hare replied that if Chief Zitek would obstruct her arrest, he would have to go to jail as well. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 pp. 217, 223). Mr. Hare testified that, at that point, Chief Zitek said that he was going to report Mr. Hare to the Mayor, and he stormed out of the office. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 p. 223). After Chief Zitek, Mr. Hare left the police station. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 pp. 223-224). Mr. Hare testified that both he and Chief Zitek were speaking loudly during the conversation, with the door to Chief Zitek's office open, so that many people could hear them arguing. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 p. 217-218).

Up to the point where they both left the Chief's office, the testimony of Mr. Hare and Chief Zitek is substantially the same. Their testimony diverges substantially, however, about how the events unfolded after that point.

According to Mr. Hare, after he left, Chief Zitek paged him and ordered him to return to the station. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 p. 290). Mr. Hare went to Chief Zitek's office, where he found not only Chief Zitek, but also Donald Tabor, who has served as the Mayor of the Village of Stickney since 1999, and James Dolezal, who was once Stickney's Chief of Police and who now serves as a Village Trustee and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees' Police Committee. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 pp. 290-291; Tabor Dep. 7/23/04 pp. 14-15; Dolezal Dep. pp. 10-12, 14). Mr. Hare testified that, when he walked into the office, Chief Zitek started screaming that he was the Chief of Police, while Mr. Hare was nobody, and that if Mr. Hare did not like how Chief Zitek ran his department, he could leave. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 pp. 292, 295-296). The meeting then ended. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 p. 296).

Chief Zitek's recollection of the conversation is different. Chief Zitek testified that Mr. Hare threatened to arrest him, that Mr. Hare was angry, proclaiming that he, not Chief Zitek, should be the Chief of Police and that Chief Zitek was a Chicago cop who did not belong at the Stickney Police Department. (Zitek Dep. 6/23/04 p. 137, 127-128). Chief Zitek testified that Mr. Hare "lost it," and "went totally ape, totally nuts"; he testified that Mr. Hare called him "all sorts of names," and told him that he would use his connections with Trustee Dolezal to remove the Chief from office and take over his job. (Zitek Dep. 6/23/04 pp. 127-128). Chief Zitek testified that Mr. Hare had never spoken to him in this manner before. (Zitek Dep. 6/23/05 p. 133). Mr. Hare denies Chief Zitek's assertion about what happened during the July 17 meeting. (Hare Dep. 4/28/04 pp. 222-223).

Trustee Dolezal, who confirmed that he was present during this meeting, would seem to side with Mr. Hare: he testified that Mr. Hare was respectful and used the word "sir" when referring to Chief Zitek, and he testified that Mr. Hare never said he wanted to be Chief or that he wanted to get rid of Chief Zitek. (Dolezal Dep. pp. 46, 70-71). Mayor Tabor similarly confirmed that he was present during this meeting, and he similarly testified that Mr. Hare referred to Chief Zitek as "sir" throughout the encounter. (Tabor Dep. 1/26/05 p. 27). On the other hand, Mayor Tabor also testified that Mr. Hare told Chief Zitek that he was after Chief Zitek's job. (Tabor Dep. 1/26/05 pp. 27).

Mr. Hare testified that, after the meeting, he returned to his office and spoke with the Mayor about certain improprieties within the police department that he and some other police officers were concerned about. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 p. 299, 301-306). According to Mr. Hare, Mayor Tabor responded that he would look into the issues, but that the incident involving Heather Hanlon was over, that he would accept Ms. Hanlon's resignation. (Hare Dep. 8/13/03 p. 306).

Mr. Hare testified that, after talking with Mayor Tabor — both about the Heather Hanlon incident and about his perceptions of corruption in the department, he called an attorney who had helped him out in the past to report the events that had just transpired; he testified that he contacted the attorney because he "knew that Chief Zitek was going to come after me for what had just happened." (Hare Dep. 8/18/03 p. 260).

C. Mr. Hare's Allegations of Corruption in Chief Zitek's Department

In their motion for summary judgment, the defendants focus primarily on the Heather Hanlon incident. They argue that, to the extent Mr. Hare was treated badly by Chief Zitek or by the Village, that mistreatment was a result of animosity created because of the Heather Hanlon incident. Mr. Hare argues otherwise; in his view, the story begins not in July 2000 when the Heather Hanlon incident occurred, but in May of 1999.

According to Mr. Hare, this case really begins shortly after Chief Zitek appointed him to the post of Commander. At that time, Mr. Hare assumed, among other responsibilities, the responsibility to maintain and control the police department's evidence room. (Hare Dep. 6/13/03 pp. 73-74). In that capacity, upon assuming the role of commander, Mr. Hare immediately performed a preliminary audit of the room. (Hare...