Female Officers Win Discrimination Lawsuit Against City of Palos Hills

PALOS HILLS, IL — A Cook County jury decided in favor of four female police officers who sued the City of Palos Hills over claims of gender discrimination in February 2023 following a three-week trial downtown.

The plaintiffs — Traci Bachelder, Traci Hlado, Kristi Odem and Dorothy Walker — were the only women working for the Palos Hills Police Department. During their time with the force from 2012 to 2021, they maintain they were subjected to continued harassment, passed over for promotions or demoted, denied vacation requests, and subjected to micromanagement from which male colleagues were spared.

Also named in the original complaint were Palos Hills Police Chief Jeff Cucio and Deputy Chief Anthony Carraccio. Cucio replaced retiring chief Paul Madigan when he was promoted to chief in 2020. Cucio then promoted Carraccio to deputy chief, at his discretion.

>>> Female Officers Sue Palos Hills Police Chief, City For Discrimination

The plaintiffs described an environment in their complaint where male colleagues used “derogatory and unprofessional language” toward the female employees. They also claimed they were subjected to remarks from the police chief and deputy chief about women not being qualified to be police officers.

Their complaint also accused Cucio of spreading “false rumors” about the female officers “sleeping around.”

Among the plaintiffs’ other allegations, Bachelder, a veteran Palos Hills cop with 22 years on the force, said that in March 2017, she was forced out of the detective division. According to the complaint, Cucio pulled her into his office. He showed her an unopened manila envelope, which he implied contained information on why she needed to leave the detective division.

“We won’t tell anybody, you can write up your resignation letter and nobody has to know what’s going on,” the police chief allegedly said. The complaint further states that Cucio told Bachelder she could fight it, “but was not going to win.” Bachelder took it as a threat and retribution.

Odom, a patrol officer, left the Palos Hills Police Department rather than face a negative performance evaluation, due to the “discriminatory and hostile work environment.”

Hlado was a respected Palos Hills police officer who rose through the ranks to lieutenant and given special assignments. She stated in the complaint that it stopped after Cucio took over as chief in 2020.

After years of alleged mistreatment, the four women penned a letter in April 2022 to city officials outlining their concerns of gender discrimination. They were informed that Mayor Jerry Bennett had been apprised of their concerns, the complaint stated.

In the following months, the plaintiffs said they were each interviewed for several hours by an attorney supposedly hired by the city officials to investigate their claims. When they failed to hear the outcome of the internal investigation, the plaintiffs filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights, but the agency rejected their complaint. It was refiled with the state in January 2023.

Cucio and Carricio were dismissed from the complaint as individual defendants in October before going to trial, the plaintiffs’ attorney, Heidi Karr-Sleper said, of the Wheaton-based law firm Kurtz, Sleper & Exline, LLC.

“Both were dismissed for no other reason than strategy,” Sleeper told Patch. “There was no settlement or resolution. We filed an amended complaint and went after the city.”

On March 26, following a three-week trial at the Daley Center, a jury agreed with the plaintiffs’ claims of discrimination and harassment, their attorney, according to court documents from the Cook County Circuit Court.

Bachedlor was awarded $35,000 for back pay and emotional distress damages. Hlado was awarded $70,000 for back pay, emotional distress and front pay damages.

The jury also found for Odom’s claim of discrimination and awarded her $45,000 in back pay, emotional distress and front pay damages. Walker was awarded $39,000 in back pay for her discrimination pay. In total, the plaintiffs were awarded $189,000 in damages.

Of the four, only Walker remains employed by the Palos Hills Police Department.

“Traci Bachelder, Traci Hlado, Kristi Odom and Dorothy Walker all hope that this verdict will promote change and more equal opportunities within the Palos Hills Police Department,” Sleeper said.

Patch has reached out to Bennett and the City of Palos Hills for comment.