Employment Law Clinic Case
Chicago Firefighter's Harassment Claim Can Move Ahead
The Chicago Fire Department beat most of a discrimination lawsuit brought by a Latino firefighter who said he faced ethnic slurs and other mistreatment at work, though an Illinois federal judge ruled Thursday that the firefighter's harassment claim can stand.
In the nearly decade-old case, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman threw out Robert G. Alamo's national origin, race and disability bias claims, alongside his allegation that he was retaliated against for reporting his alleged mistreatment.
The judge did clear his claim of a hostile work environment to move past the summary judgment phase of the case, finding Alamo had presented enough evidence to show he faced severe mistreatment during his years with the department and his supervisors knew about it but failed to intervene.
***
The response to the City’s motion for summary judgment was prepared by Kristen Gagalis, Eric Greenberg, and Colin Losey, all '21. Carol Zhang, '22, joined the team last September and is now also working on the case.
Read more at Law360