The Orland Park village board voted 5-2 Monday to approve a settlement agreement with police officer William Sanchez to fully resolve his lawsuit and reinstate him as a police sergeant.
In a written statement, Mayor Jim Dodge said: “This settlement agreement effectively closes this matter. The Village of Orland Park remains committed to resolving all outstanding litigation carried over from the prior administration in an efficient and responsible manner. Our ongoing focus is on strengthening public trust, enhancing operational efficiency, and ensuring that the Village of Orland Park continues to advance responsibly, transparently and in the best interests of our residents.”
The lawsuit was filed in March and it alleged that the Orland Park Police Department denied Sanchez a promotion from sergeant to lieutenant due to apparent race discrimination. After he formally complained to Chief of Police Eric Rossi and to the Orland Park Human Resources department and filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the Orland Park Police Department fired him early in 2024 in an act of retaliation, according to his lawsuit. Sanchez was a member of the police force for more than 19 years and was on track to be promoted to lieutenant–something other white officers, all who had formerly held his position as a Traffic Safety Unit supervisor, had already achieved.
Under terms of the settlement, the village, its insurance carrier, and the insurance carrier for the investigative firm have agreed to pay $225,000 as the compensatory portion of the settlement and $299,000 in back pay for a total of $524,000. The village also spent more than $460,000 in legal fees.
“My goal was to take a look at all cases and quickly end litigation by finding a resolution that brought this matter to an end,” Dodge said Wednesday. “All this protracted legal maneuvering was doing was making lawyers rich.”
But not everyone was pleased with the outcome.
Trustee Bill Healy, who along with Trustee Cynthia Nelson-Katsenes, voted against the settlement agreement, said: “What came out in that independent report regarding the circumstances of (Sanchez’s severance), anyone who read that report – in my opinion – would have found his behavior to be both disgusting and inappropriate.”
Sanchez is being reinstated to his previous position with the Orland Park Police Department. Each party will be responsible for their own legal fees and costs. In the village’s case, legal fees exceed $460,000. The village and all named individuals deny all allegations of wrongdoing, and the settlement was made as a cost-of-defense decision by the village and the insurance carriers, not as an admission of liability or fault.
All claims against the village and its employees are in the process of being dismissed with prejudice pursuant to the settlement.
It was the second suit settled this year with a former police officer.
In October, the village reached a settlement agreement with former Police Sgt. Kenneth Kovac to fully resolve his lawsuit against the village and five high-ranking former or current police officers.
Kovac’s attorney said Kovac was suing for violations of free speech and protection from unlawful search and seizure. Kovac made a Facebook page parodying then-Deputy Chief of Police Brian West and the suit claimed West worked to shut down the parody page and enlisted other high-ranking officers to investigate, arrest, and criminally charge Kovac for false personation and disorderly conduct, alleged crimes for which he faced up to one year of imprisonment. A Cook County Circuit Court judge dismissed both criminal charges nine months after they were filed.