A federal judge has dismissed a whistleblower lawsuit brought by a veteran police misconduct investigator against the city and the former chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability who resigned last year.
The lawsuit brought by Matthew Haynam claimed that his First Amendment rights were violated when he was fired by former COPA chief administrator Andrea Kersten in August 2024 after he reported her alleged malfeasance to the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability and the city’s Office of Inspector General.
Federal court records show the two-count suit was dismissed on Jan. 29 by U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow for Haynam’s failure to state a claim. A lawyer for Haynam did not immediately comment.
“Based on Haynam’s well-pleaded allegations, the court finds that Haynam’s speech was made as a public employee, and not as a private citizen,” Lefkow wrote in a Jan. 29 order. “It was thus unprotected by the First Amendment.”
Records show the lawsuit dismissed last week was the second that Haynam filed in relation to his firing. He also filed a similar lawsuit in Cook County court in September 2024 that was voluntarily dismissed last year.
Lefkow’s order came six months after attorneys for the city and Kersten filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Haynam’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment. Kersten declined to comment.
Kristen Cabanban, a spokesperson for the city’s Law Department, said in a statement to the Tribune: “...
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