Former Joliet Police Chief Malec sues city

Former Joliet Police Chief Dawn Malec has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the city manager of driving her out of the police department and defaming her in the process.

The lawsuit, filed Sept. 28, also alleges invasion of privacy and violation of the Illinois Whistleblowers Act. It seeks restoration of pay and benefits along with possible reinstatement and a change in Joliet employment policy and practices.

Malec was the first female police chief in Joliet and was hired by City Manager James Capparelli in his first day on the job in January 2021.

Capparelli removed her as chief 10 months later.

The lawsuit against the city manager and the city alleges a situation in which Capparelli issued three letters of reprimand against Malec without ever discussing the matters with her or responding to Malec’s own letters in her defense against the reprimands.

“At no point, either prior to issuing any of the disciplinary letters or after, did Capparelli have a conversation with Malec about any of the misconduct he alleged her to have committed,” according to the lawsuit.

Two reprimands accused Malec of failing to implement a body camera policy and social worker program in the police department. A third issued two weeks before her removal as chief concerned her attempt to discipline a police officer.

The lawsuit does not identify the officer. But Malec at the time of her removal as chief, told the Herald-News that she had been threatened with dismissal if she proceeded with a disciplinary hearing on Sgt. Javier Esqueda, which she did.

Esqueda, now retired, has claimed whistleblower status for releasing police video of Eric Lurry, who died in January 2020 from what authorities determined to be a self-ingested drug overdose while in police custody. Esqueda faces a criminal charge of official misconduct accusing him of illegally gaining access to the video and releasing it to a TV station.

Malec in the lawsuit claims whistleblower status, saying she received her last letter of reprimand for trying to show City Council members a report from an investigation into the disciplinary matter “disclosing what she reasonable believed to be public corruption or wrongdoing.”

Malec was both demoted and simultaneously fired from the department on Oct. 6, 2021.

Capparelli that morning issued a news release saying, “Police Chief Dawn Malec’s employment with the Joliet Police Department has ended effective immediately.”

But she returned to work at her former rank as lieutenant after city officials realized that Capparelli only had authority to remove her as chief, not to fire her from the police department.

The lawsuit alleges that Capparelli defamed Malec by putting her at a desk in City Hall within public view instead of returning her to police duties for about a month after she returned to work. The city manager also told people Malec had been insubordinate and that he still intended to fire her, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Malec’s privacy was violated and her reputation damaged when the city released to Joliet Patch a copy of a letter from her attorneys stating financial demands as they tried to negotiate a settlement over her removal as police chief in the weeks following the demotion.

Capparelli and City Attorney Sabrina Spano did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Malec retired from the department in July.

The lawsuit states that Malec retired two years earlier than intended without full pension benefits. But she also faced a potential loss in pension income because of her demotion from the chief’s job. By retiring within a year after her demotion, Malec’s pension was based on her salary as chief rather than her lower pay as lieutenant.

“But for the city and Capparelli’s unlawful conduct, Malec would have continued working as chief of police for the city of Joliet until she reached 30 years and could retire with full pension benefits,” according to the lawsuit.

It also seeks an injunction forcing the city to change employment policies and practices.

The lawsuit claims that a Joliet ordinance giving the city manager sole discretion in appointing and removing police chiefs violates state and federal law under which Malec should have been given an opportunity to defend herself.