JOLIET, IL —A pair of law firms hired to defend Joliet and city manager Jim Capparelli have asked a federal judge in Chicago to dismiss Dawn Malec's federal lawsuit against her former employer claiming her constitutional rights were violated by removing her as Joliet police chief without due process of law.
Malec's lawsuit seeks compensatory damages for emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, injury to reputation and other non-pecuniary losses, with prejudgment interest, court documents show.
According to Clark Baird Smith attorney Kelly Coyle, the lawyer defending the city of Joliet, Malec alleges that Capparelli made two groups of defamatory statements about her, "one, by allegedly telling a member of Joliet's Board of Fire and Police Commissioners that she was a 'dumb, unmotivated lump,' and two, by allegedly telling citizens at Joliet City Council meetings that Malec was insubordinate and could not follow department rules.
This month's motion to dismiss Malec's lawsuit was also submitted by Capparelli's lawyer, Chicago attorney Michael Layden of Prendergast Layden, Ltd.
"These alleged statements are non-actionable," Coyle argued for Joliet. "First, Capparelli’s alleged statements to the BFPC constitute opinion. Calling someone 'dumb' or 'unmotivated' is not capable of being proven and,...
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