$200,000 Settlement In Black Joliet Officer's Discrimination Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL — The city of Joliet has agreed to a $200,000 settlement to resolve retired Joliet Police Officer Lionel Allen's racial discrimination lawsuit against the city, Joliet Patch has learned.

According to a copy of the settlement terms, Joliet agreed to pay Allen and his attorneys a total gross sum of $200,000.

The settlement payment includes:

A one-time lump sum payment to Rapier Law Firm in the amount of $186,500. A one-time lump sum payment to the Law Office of Julie O. Herrera in the amount of $13,500.

According to the settlement documents, Joliet also agrees to provide Allen a neutral reference to any future prospective employer, so long as the prospective employer contacts the city's Human Resources Director. The information provided to any prospective employer will be limited to Allen's dates of employment and positions held. Any additional information will only be released if Allen so authorizes in writing or as otherwise may be required by law.

In February, Joliet Patch reported that a Rosemont law firm defending the city of Joliet and former Police Chief Brian Benton in Allen's race discrimination lawsuit against his former employer gained an important pretrial victory in a federal judge's ruling.

In his 38-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger granted Joliet's motion for a summary judgement on Allen's race discrimination claims. The judge also granted Joliet's motion for a summary judgement on Allen's retaliation claims regarding the Joliet Police Department's internal affairs investigation and Allen's suspension.

But the federal judge did not dismiss Allen's federal lawsuit in its entirety.

"The Court denies Defendants’ motion for summary judgement on the retaliation claims about the Last Chance Agreement," Seeger wrote.

In 2018, while still on the Joliet Police Department, Allen filed his federal lawsuit against the Joliet Police Department, Chief Benton and Lt. Marc Reid, who oversaw internal affairs at the time.

At the time of Allen's lawsuit, Patch reported that Allen had previously filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on May 1, 2016. On June 16, 2016, Chief Benton "recommended that Allen be terminated" as "further race discrimination," the lawsuit stated.

Joliet's police chief told Allen he would not be fired if he chose to withdraw his EEOC complaint, "agree not to file any future charges, signed a 'last chance agreement' and took a 15-day suspension," according to the lawsuit.

"The first question is whether the Defendant retaliated against Allen for complaining about racism in the workplace when the parties entered into the ominous-sounding Last Chance Agreement," judge Seeger stated in February's ruling. "Again, the Last Chance Agreement allowed Allen to keep his job, with strings attached. For present purposes, the most important string was the obligation to abandon the EEOC charge.

"There is no dispute about the first element of the retaliation claim, because there is no doubt that filing a complaint with the EEOC is a protected activity. The Seventh Circuit has long held that formal EEOC charges are the most obvious form of statutorily protected activity.”