EAST CHICAGO | Two more federal lawsuits against the city that alleged Mayor George Pabey engaged in illegal employment practices were thrown out this week.
A suit in which police Officer Arcides Santiago claimed he was demoted because of his support for former Mayor Robert Pastrick in a hotly contested 2004 special election was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Lozano also dismissed a suit by former city employee Kevin Knight that claimed he was fired from his job as manager of the James W. Knight Public Safety Facility because he supported Pastrick in the election and because he was white.
In his 31-page ruling on the Santiago case, Lozano agreed with the city that being moved from the department's Gangs and Narcotics Unit to its Patrol Division was not a demotion, but a transfer.
Knight, who for 11 years was head of buildings and grounds for the School City of East Chicago, was hired to manage the facility named after his father, a longtime city controller, in 2002.
He was one of several dozen city employees let go in the early months of 2005 after newly elected Pabey's transition team determined that the budget he inherited could not be supported by existing revenue and recommended a reduction in city personnel.
Because more than a year passed before anyone again worked as "manager" of the safety facility -- a position that Lozano, in a 29-page ruling, determined to be little more than a supervisor of janitorial staff -- Knight failed to prove he was fired in order to open up a position for a political supporter of Pabey.
Lozano also ruled that Knight failed to prove that the city had reason to discriminate against whites because the employee who terminated Knight, Pabey's City Controller Charles Pecurar, is white.
Corporation Counsel Carmen Fernandez said the city will request legal costs and fees from Santiago and Knight in both cases.
The ruling brings to 14 the number of job-related lawsuits brought by city employees that have been settled with no liability to the city.
The wrongful termination cases of 19 former municipal and school city employees have yet to be settled in court actions that have so far cost the city more than $1.5 million in legal fees.
