Lawyers for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 on Monday filed notice that they will appeal a judge’s ruling that granted officers the right to have an arbitrator decide serious discipline cases, but said that hearings could be open to the public.
Sun-Times file
Chicago’s largest police union has given formal notice that it will appeal a court ruling that would open hearings on major disciplinary cases to the public.
In a court filing, lawyers for Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 said they would challenge an order by Cook County Judge Michael Mullen issued last month.
That order pared back a 2023 ruling by a labor arbitrator that gave officers facing dismissal or long-term suspensions the option to have their case decided by an independent arbitrator instead of the Chicago Police Board.
The arbitrator’s ruling also required the city to pay officers who were suspended while their cases were pending, a provision that also was rolled back by Mullen’s order.
Mullen had said before releasing his ruling that he expected it would please neither side.
Mullen affirmed officers’ right to have an arbitrator decide their fate in serious cases, but he did say those hearings could be open because of the public interest in misconduct by police.
A spokesperson for the city’s Law Department declined comment, citing the ongoing litigation. A lawyer for the FOP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At the Police Board’s meeting Thursday, President Kyle Cooper announced that the board would hold off on making final decisions on disciplinary matters in anticipation of an appeal.
Cooper noted that 16 officers with pending disciplinary cases have filed motions to transfer their cases to arbitration.
“The board will not be taking final action as it is still not clear what the outcome of an appeal would be, so at this time [the board] is choosing not to take any action,” Cooper said.
In December, arbitrator Edwin Benn ruled that state law gives officers the right to seek arbitration in cases where they face firing or suspensions longer than a year. FOP members have been able to have lower-stakes disciplinary cases heard by an arbitrator for more than a decade.
But with support from Mayor Brandon Johnson, the City Council has twice, by large margins, voted to reject Benn’s ruling. The majority of council members have argued that allowing officers to bypass the Police Board would be a blow to transparency because arbitration hearings are not typically open to the public.
In a strongly worded ruling after the second time the council voted not to accept his findings, Benn said the council’s move would touch off litigation that might last for years, with little chance of the city prevailing in court.
The Police Board too has opposed allowing arbitration in the most serious misconduct cases, with executive director Max Caproni noting that in the 10 years since officers have been given the option of having their cases heard by an arbitrator instead of the board, only one officer has opted to go before the board.