Ousted Joliet Police Chief Dawn Malec Gets 6 Figure Settlement

JOLIET, IL ? Lawyers representing the city of Joliet convinced former Joliet police chief Dawn Malec to withdraw her September 2022 federal civil rights discrimination lawsuit against Joliet and former city manager Jim Capparelli in exchange for the sum of $100,000.

In another exclusive story, Joliet Patch is revealing the financial details of Malec's recent out-of-court settlement with Joliet to bring her bitter employment dispute to an end. One condition of her settlement, Malec has agreed she will never work for the city of Joliet the rest of her life.

This week, Joliet Patch obtained the settlement as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request. The document was signed by Capparelli, who was an original co-defendant, and his replacement, interim city manager Rod Tonelli, in late November.

In December, Beth Beatty came from the city of Chicago to replace them and became the permanent city manager.

News of Malec's $100,000 taxpayer funded settlement comes seven months after Joliet Patch reported that her lawsuit was on the verge of falling apart in the federal court system.

In May, Joliet Patch reported that in a major victory for Capparelli and the city of Joliet, a federal judge in Chicago has dismissed much of Malec's federal defamation lawsuit. Capparelli has been removed as a lawsuit co-defendant altogether, the judge ruled.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

• Malec Made Egizio Deputy Chief Without City Hall's OK: Records
• Dawn Malec Fired As Joliet Police Chief, Replaced By Robert Brown
• Retired Army Colonel Joliet's Next City Manager?

Here were some of the key rulings from May, issued by U.S. District Judge Kennelly in Chicago in regard to Malec's federal lawsuit that she filed last fall against the city of Joliet:

• "As a threshold matter, the City and Capparelli ask to dismiss Capparelli from the counts in which Malec names him in his official capacity alongside the City, counts 1 and 3-7. Because the City is already named as a defendant on those claims, naming Capparelli in his official capacity is superfluous. The Court therefore grants the defendants' request to dismiss Capparelli in his official capacity from counts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7."

• "In count 1, Malec asserts a claim under section 1983 alleging that the City violated her constitutional rights by removing her as Chief of Police without due process ... In short, Malec's position as police chief was governed by Joliet city ordinance, which allowed her removal at the city manager's discretion, and not by the Illinois Municipal Code's good cause requirement ... Malec cites no authority supporting this contention, nor is the Court aware of any. That aside, Malec's contention makes no sense. She cannot possibly have any property interest via a state enactment under a scheme of governance under which a municipality like Joliet is legally entitled?by virtue of home role?to displace the state enactment via its own ordinance."

• In count 2, Malec asserts a claim of defamation per se against Capparelli in both his official and individual capacities. Malec alleges that "Capparelli told at least one member of the Joliet Board of Fire and Police Commissioners that [she] was a 'dumb, unmotivated lump.'" She further alleges that "Capparelli told citizens of Joliet who were present at City Council meetings that Plaintiff was insubordinate and that she could not follow department rules." Count 2 is the only official capacity claim against Capparelli that he did not ask the Court to dismiss on that basis. But as previously discussed, suing Capparelli in his official capacity is tantamount to suing the City. And the City is absolutely immune from defamation claims ... The Court concludes that the "dumb, unmotivated lump" comment is a nonactionable opinion. To determine whether a statement is one of fact or opinion, Illinois courts consider the totality of the circumstances and whether the statement can be objectively verified as true or false. Courts have repeatedly held that referring to a person as "dumb" or "stupid" is a nonactionable expression of opinion because such statements cannot be objectively verified and are inherently subjective ... The Court therefore concludes that Malec cannot maintain a defamation claim based on these particular comments by Capparelli."

In the summer of 2022, Malec retired from the Joliet police force after being demoted in October 2021 back to her old rank of patrol lieutenant. Capparelli made her chief in January 2021, within days of becoming Joliet's city manager.

But by October, Capparelli believed he made a mistake promoting Malec. He issued a press release informing everyone that Malec was terminated and replaced on an interim basis by deputy chief Robert Brown.

Brown served in an interim role until Bill Evans, a retired Cook County Sheriff's Office lieutenant, was named the new permanent chief of police for Joliet in March 2022.

"Because Malec's pension was based on her highest earned salary in the previous year?and because her salary as lieutenant was less than her salary as chief of police?Malec alleges that she was effectively forced to retire from the police department on July 7, 2022, to avoid a reduced pension," U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly wrote in his ruling from May.

"Malec further alleges that but for the defendants' misconduct, she would have continued working as chief until she reached thirty years of service and could retire with full pension benefits."

After Capparelli announced that she was fired from her job, he later learned that he had erred, that Malec could remain a police officer at her previous rank, which was traffic lieutenant.

During Malec's short tenure as the chief, the Joliet Police Department remained in constant turmoil, just as things were during the leadership of her predecessor, Al Roechner, who was forced into retirement in January 2021 after two-and-a-half years on the job as police chief.

In the Fall of 2021, the Joliet Police Department became the subject of a civil rights investigation, which still has not been closed, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced that September. However, the attorney general's civil rights probe, examining a pattern of unlawful arrests by Joliet police officers, pertained to events that happened while Roechner and Brian Benton were the police chiefs. These days, Benton is the chief in Mokena.

More Joliet Patch coverage of Dawn Malec

• Calling Ex-Chief 'Dumb, Unmotivated Lump' Isn't Defamation: Judge
• 'Sloppy' Joliet Manager Blasted For Police Chief's Firing: Letter