Joliet Police Candidate Rejected Because He Is Black: Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL — The brother of Joliet police detective James Sinnott has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the city of Joliet and Al Roechner, accusing Joliet's police chief of violating his civil rights by improperly rejecting his application to join the Joliet Police Department in 2019 on the basis of his skin color.

Anthony Sinnott, who is now 36, applied to become a Joliet police officer in 2018. He became a sergeant with the Harvey Police Department, which is where he worked from 2008 until 2017. In 2017-2018, he worked for the Cicero Police Department.

According to his federal lawsuit, the city of Joliet had at least 10 job openings on its police force in 2019, and Anthony Sinnott later discovered he ranked No. 5 out of the 227 eligible candidates.

On Aug. 26, 2019, Sinnott learned that Joliet's Police and Fire Board rejected his job application, his lawsuit states. According the Vucko Law Firm in Oak Brook, Sinnott's brother is also an African-American and a member of the Joliet Black Police Officers Association, an advocacy forum for minority police officers.

"The city’s rejection letter stated that Sinnott allegedly did 'not meet the requirements for appointment' as patrol officer for the city,'" his federal lawsuit states.

"Sinnott is aware that Defendant Roechner stated to the Board, in sum, that he did not want another Black male so that they could have another member of the BPOA," his lawsuit states. "Sinnott is aware that Roechner told the Board that he has issues with Sinnott’s brother and with the BPOA."

(Joliet Patch article continues below this excerpt from Anthony Sinnott's federal lawsuit.)

Joliet Patch left a detailed voicemail message with Roechner on Thursday night seeking his comment on the race discrimination lawsuit, but he did not call back.

According to federal court records, Anthony Sinnott sent a Freedom of Information Act request to Joliet related to his rejected job application, and that's when he learned that Joliet got 642 applications for police officer and that he ranked fifth out of 227 eligible candidates in the 2019 Joliet police officer eligibility list.

His lawsuit also states that, "Roechner made false statements about Sinnott to the Board and verbally accused him of being a 'habitual woman beater' in front of the Board. After gathering Roechner's input, Joliet's police and fire board voted unanimously to reject Sinnott's application on Aug. 21, 2019, according to court records.

Oak Brook attorney Stacey Vucko's 12-page federal lawsuit indicates her client learned of an unsigned letter on former Joliet Police Chief Brian Benton's letterhead that was dated July 17, 2019. The letter stated, “I have reviewed the background investigation reports on Police Applicant Anthony Sinnott and have found nothing that would preclude his employment as a Joliet police officer," according to the lawsuit.

Roechner and Joliet recommended a less qualified candidate to fill the vacancies on the Joliet police force that Sinnott had applied, the plaintiffs argue.

"On information and belief, one or more individuals employed by the city falsified records relating to Sinnott’s job application," Sinnott's lawsuit states. "For example, documents Sinnott received in response to his FOIA request reflect that one of Sinnott’s job references was allegedly contacted in connection with Sinnott’s application. The reference allegedly 'did not acknowledge knowing the applicant for (redacted) years' and allegedly did not 'know if Anthony J. Sinnott would be a good Police Officer.

"However, Sinnott’s reference confirmed to Sinnott that Joliet never contacted him regarding Sinnott’s application for the position," according to Vucko Law.

"Sinnott brings the city’s discriminatory hiring practices to life," his lawsuit states.

Anthony Sinnott and his lawyers want a federal jury to award them compensation plus backpay, additional backpay to account for the negative tax consequences of a lump-sum payment and damages for emotional pain, distress, and suffering and mental anguish.

Meanwhile, Joliet Patch found Sinnott has a pending federal lawsuit against Cicero. He filed that lawsuit on March 21, 2020.

According to court records in that lawsuit, Sinnott states, "I began my employment with (Cicero) on or about Jan. 1, 2017. My most recent position was police officer. During my employment, I was subjected to different terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, harsher scrutiny. I was also harassed. On or about June 11, 2018, I was discharged.

"I believe I have been discriminated against because of my race, Black, and in retaliation, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended."

The federal lawsuit filed by Anthony Sinnott against Joliet and Roechner is nothing new.

In early September, Joliet Patch published an exclusive article revealing that the Joliet Police Department had at least a dozen pending lawsuits against it. Through August, those pending lawsuits had cost Joliet taxpayers at least $770,000 in mounting bills being paid to outside law firms hired to defend the city of Joliet.

A number of those lawsuits were filed by Joliet police officers against their own employer.

At least two of those pending federal lawsuits involve allegations of racial discrimination lodged by Dave Jackson, a Black detective, and Lionel Allen, a Black officer who retired in August 2019 after more than 30 years with the Joliet Police Department.