Officer Abused Family Leave To Call Off 60 Times: Sheriff

CHICAGO, IL — Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is looking to fire a correctional officer who called off work more than 60 times in less than 18 months using the Family Medical Leave Act. Dart filed a complain with his merit board seeking to terminate the officer, who has been suspended from his position without pay. The sheriff's office said the officer used FMLA to go on vacations and attend holiday events.

Alexander Perteete was hired as a Cook County Department of Corrections officer in 2004. According to the sheriff's office, he was approved for the FMLA in September 2015 after submitting documentation from his doctor related to an "intermittent medical condition."

The sheriff's office said Perteete called in FMLA more than 60 times between Jan. 1, 2016, and July 13, 2017, either before or after a regular day off or vacation time. The officer "used FMLA to miss work, supplement vacations and attend holiday events," the sheriff's office stated in a media release.

On Mother's Day last year, Perteete called in FMLA to excuse himself from a shift starting at 3 p.m., the sheriff's office said. Investigators found that about 20 minutes before Perteete's shift was supposed to start, he posted a story on Facebook about correctional officer call-offs at the Cook County Jail on Mother's Day, the sheriff's office claimed. On that day, Cook County jail was put on lockdown when more than 200 officers did not report to work.

"Later that afternoon, Perteete posted a video on Facebook from the Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, Indiana and claimed in the comments that his mother was 'hitting it big' at the casino on Mother’s Day," the sheriff's office stated.

Investigators also revealed Perteete called off work using FMLA while vacationing in Miami and Cancun, the sheriff's office said.

Perteete worked a second full-time job at Health Resource Solutions, and called in under FMLA 11 times to excuse himself from shifts while he was finishing shifts at HRS, the sheriff's office claimed.

Perteete has been suspended from his correctional officer position without pay.

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