Walsh v. City of Chicago

712 F. Supp. 1298, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11093, 1988 WL 156259
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 30, 1988
DocketNo. 87 C 3336
StatusPublished

This text of 712 F. Supp. 1298 (Walsh v. City of Chicago) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walsh v. City of Chicago, 712 F. Supp. 1298, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11093, 1988 WL 156259 (N.D. Ill. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BRIAN BARNETT DUFF, District Judge.

Robert L. Walsh began work as a police officer for the City of Chicago in April 1981. On November 6, 1985, Walsh signed a letter stating that he was resigning. Walsh claims that he signed this letter against his will. He contends further that the actions of various members of the Chicago Police Department prior to his purported resignation and the response of the Department to his attempts to withdraw his letter violated a variety of federal and state laws, and thus deprived him of his rights. The City of Chicago, Superintendent Fred Rice, Jr., Assistant Deputy Superintendent Leonard Zaleski, and Director Joseph P. Beazley of the Department’s Personnel Division have moved to dismiss all of Walsh’s claims under Rule 12(b)6, Fed.R. Civ.P.

The following facts are taken from Walsh’s complaint, which this court accepts as true for purposes of the defendants’ motion. On November 6, 1985, Walsh re[1300]*1300ceived orders to leave his station at Chicago’s 8th Police District. He was met by Sergeants Paul L. Tasch, Jr. and George Leslie, who acted pursuant to the orders of Lieutenant Robert T. Curry and Superintendent Rice. Curry, Tasch, and Leslie are members of the Department’s Internal Affairs Division (IAD). Tasch and Leslie transported Walsh to the Medical Section of the Department, where they advised Walsh that he was being charged with possession and use of cocaine. At some point they gave Walsh written notice of these charges, which had been filed by another IAD officer, Sergeant Robert Zdora. Walsh claims that Tasch and Leslie knew or should have known that the charges were false.

The sergeants advised Walsh that he had the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present when Walsh answered the charges against him. Walsh told Tasch and Leslie that he wanted to talk with a lawyer before they asked him any questions, and signed a request to secure legal counsel for a subsequent hearing. Walsh was then ordered to urinate into a cup, which Walsh did in the presence of Tasch. The Department later analyzed Walsh’s urine and found no traces of illicit drugs. Walsh claims, however, that IAD ordered, directed, and compelled unannounced, warrantless physical examinations such as the one given to Walsh, and that Superintendent Rice knew about and consented to the practice.

After Walsh had given a specimen of his urine, Curry, Tasch, and Leslie directed Walsh to a small office. Once in the office, Curry, Tasch, and Leslie threatened to prosecute Walsh unless he resigned from the Department. They told Walsh that Sergeant Zdora and Officer Patricia Kane had Walsh’s wife in the lockup at Police Headquarters, and that she had given them evidence that Walsh was a drug dealer. These statements were false. Nevertheless, the officers refused to tell Walsh where his three children were unless he signed a letter of resignation, and denied Walsh’s repeated requests for an attorney. As a result of these pressures, Walsh signed the letter.

Walsh claims that it was and is the regular practice and procedure of Curry and other IAD officers to coerce the resignations of police officers without affording them counsel or an opportunity to have a hearing. Walsh also accuses Curry, Zdora, and Kane of filing false reports. Two days after he signed his letter of resignation, Walsh addressed a letter to Curry and the Administrator of the Department’s Personnel Division advising them that he felt his resignation had been unfairly coerced. Walsh requested a hearing. On November 19, 1985, Assistant Deputy Superintendent Zaleski wrote back to Walsh. Zaleski stated that he felt that Walsh’s resignation was voluntary and without coercion, and that he would recommend that the resignation “remain.” Walsh alleges that Zaleski made this recommendation to Rice, knowing full well that Curry and IAD officers under Curry’s command were employing coercion to obtain resignations.

By this point Walsh had employed an attorney, who wrote to Zaleski demanding a formal hearing. Beazley, as director of the Personnel Division, responded to Walsh on December 6, 1985 that no procedure existed for a hearing, and that Walsh could choose to reapply to the Department if he so desired. Walsh chose instead to file this suit on April 9, 1987.

The most complex part of Walsh’s complaint is Count 1, which Walsh brings under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982). Walsh alleges in Count 1 that Rice and the City of Chicago had the duty to promulgate rules concerning due process for officers who have resigned or have been terminated, or are in the process of resignation or termination. Walsh alleges further that, if there were such rules, Rice and the City did not enforce them, or they were insufficient to prevent IAD from coercing Walsh into resigning. Walsh also contends that the defendants did not afford him a pre-termi-nation hearing, and that he never committed acts sufficient for termination. Walsh claims that the defendants deprived him of liberty and property without due process of law, in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. [1301]*1301He also claims that these acts violated his rights under the Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution, as well as his right to equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Walsh’s other claims are more straightforward. Count 2 is another § 1983 claim, one where Walsh alleges that there was a conspiracy to deprive him of his Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Counts 3-6 are pendent state law claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, duress, slander, and breach of contract.

The defendants have raised a number of arguments in favor of dismissing all of Walsh’s counts, but since Counts 1-2 are the only claims that arise under the laws and Constitution of the United States, this court will address the attacks on them first. The City of Chicago argues first that Walsh has failed to allege the existence of an official policy that led to his injuries, which is the only way that the City could be held liable for the acts of its employees. See City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 108 S.Ct. 915, 922-24, 99 L.Ed.2d 107 (1988); Suarez v. Illinois Valley Community College, 688 F.Supp. 376, 383 (N.D.Ill.1988). The City exhaustively argues that it cannot be held liable on a theory of respondeat superior, a theory upon which Walsh relies at several places in his complaint. See, for example, Complaint ¶¶ 23, 59-60, 65.

Were respondeat superior the sole basis for Walsh’s contention that the City is liable for the actions surrounding his resignation, this court would have no choice but to dismiss Counts 1-2 as to the City. But Walsh’s complaint, taken as a whole, alleges more than that. In 1119 of the Complaint, Walsh states that at all times Zdora, Tasch, Leslie, and Kane were acting pursuant to the orders and directions of their superiors, Lieutenant Curry and Superintendent Rice. The City rightly observes that Curry does not have the power to establish policy for the City; it fails to contest Rice’s power to do so. Yet that is what Walsh alleges. Similarly, in ¶ 22 Walsh states the City “maintained, permitted and allowed impermissible policies and procedures whereby [Rice] dictated, approved and implemented a policy whereby Officers of [IAD] would threaten, cajole and intimidate” Chicago police officers to resign.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc.
453 U.S. 247 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Kentucky v. Graham
473 U.S. 159 (Supreme Court, 1985)
City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik
485 U.S. 112 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Santella v. Grishaber
672 F. Supp. 321 (N.D. Illinois, 1987)
Suarez v. Illinois Valley Community College
688 F. Supp. 376 (N.D. Illinois, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
712 F. Supp. 1298, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11093, 1988 WL 156259, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walsh-v-city-of-chicago-ilnd-1988.