Fire Fighters Obtain $180,000 Judgment
Against City of Alton
SPRINGFIELD, IL – A Federal District Court in East St.
Louis, Illinois, entered a judgment March 8, 2006, against the City of
Alton, Illinois, its Mayor Donald Sandidge and its former Fire Chief Timothy
Spaulding in a lawsuit filed by the Alton Firefighters Union, Local 1255, of
the International Association of Fire Fighters, and current and former fire
fighters for violations of their First Amendment and Illinois political
action rights. The City, Sandidge and Spaulding must pay a total of $180,000
to all the plaintiffs.
“This judgment is a total and complete victory for Local
1255, its members and the plaintiffs,” says Rob Franke, president of Local
1255 and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. In March 2004, fire fighters Thomas
Chappell and James McFarlane were suspended by the City for their support of
a ballot referendum designed to institute ambulance service in the City’s
fire department.
Both Chappell and McFarlane were later reinstated to their
positions through arbitration procedures. The arbitrators who reinstated the
men determined that they had been suspended because of their political
views. The arbitrators awarded the men back pay, but lacked the power to
award any other damages.
In March 2005, Chappell, McFarlane, Franke and Local 1255
filed the federal lawsuit against Mayor Sandidge, Spaulding and the City for
carrying out a plan designed to politically discredit the fire fighters and
“to squash political dissent.”
The IAFF took this case under its Guardian Policy, to assist
Local 1255 in its legal fight. “Free speech is a basic right in America and
when overreaching government officials try to take it away, we will do
everything possible to stand with our members in their fight,” said IAFF
General President Harold Schaitberger. “This is an important victory for
public safety in Alton and for its fire fighters.”
Key allegations made in the lawsuit were not only that the
City suspended Chappell and McFarlane in violation of their First Amendment
rights, but also that Spaulding and the mayor had refused to allow Local
1255 to hold meetings regarding the ambulance service and that the mayor had
ousted Chappell from Madison County’s 911 Board in retaliation for filing
the federal lawsuit.
In February 2006, the City, Sandidge and Spaulding offered
to pay the plaintiffs $180,000 in damages and attorney’s fees, and to have a
judgment entered against them in the case, in order to end the litigation.
The plaintiffs accepted.
“Obviously, the City cried ‘uncle’ on this one,” says Franke.
“You don’t agree to pay out six figures and admit that you broke the law
just to save legal fees. They knew a jury verdict would have been much
worse.”
Both Chappell and McFarlane say they are pleased with the
result.
“This lawsuit was about how the mayor and the City destroyed
Jim and my professional and personal lives for exercising our First
Amendment rights,” says Chappell. “Now there’s a federal court judgment that
recognizes that, and some compensation for the damage to our reputations.”
Rick Merrill, President of the Associated Fire Fighters of
Illinois, said, “If politicians exclude, or, in this case, punish, fire
fighters for participating in the public debate about health and safety,
everyone’s wellbeing is jeopardized. Municipalities across Illinois must
understand that fire fighters have the same political rights as all
citizens.”
The federal lawsuit is entitled, Chappell, et al, v.
Sandidge, et al., Case No. 05-192-MJR.
The IAFF, headquartered in Washington, DC, is the 12th
largest union among the 54 national unions that makeup the AFL-CIO. The IAFF
represents more than 272,000 professional fire fighters and emergency
medical personnel who protect 80 percent of the nation’s population. More
than 2,900 affiliates serve nearly 6,000 communities in Canada and in every
state in the U.S. For more information, visit
www.iaff.org.
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