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Krocka v. Police Board

Case Date: 12/17/2001
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-00-2639 Rel

FIRST DIVISION
December 17, 2001



No. 1-00-2639


VINCENT J. KROCKA,

               Plaintiff-Appellant,

                      v.

THE POLICE BOARD OF THE CITY
OF CHICAGO, and TERRY HILLARD,
Superintendent of Police of
the City of Chicago,

                Defendants-Appellees.

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)		 Appeal from the
Circuit Court of
Cook County


No. 99 CR 16302



The Honorable
Robert V. Boharic,
Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE COUSINS delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Vincent J. Krocka, was discharged from his position as aChicago police officer by the Police Board of the City of Chicago (the Board)in October 1999. Krocka sought administrative review in the circuit court ofCook County. The court denied his petition for administrative review andaffirmed the judgment of the Board. The issues presented for review are: (1) whether the Board's findings were against the manifest weight of the evidence;(2) whether the Board's decision to terminate Krocka was arbitrary orunreasonable; and (3) whether Krocka was denied a fair hearing and denied dueprocess before the Board.

BACKGROUND

Vincent Krocka became a member of the Chicago police department inJanuary 1980. He is also licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois. In 1990, Krocka was diagnosed with severe depression and began taking Prozacto alleviate his condition. In 1992, the Department discovered that Krockawas taking Prozac and after placing him on medical leave and evaluating thathe was fit for continued duty, he was placed in the department's "PersonnelConcerns Program."

In 1995, Krocka filed a federal law suit against the City of Chicago(the City) (Krocka v. City of Chicago, 203 F.3d 507 (7th Cir. 2000)), theChicago police department (the Department), and several individual decision-makers under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) (42 U.S.C.