Excerpts from CookCountyRecord.com:
A federal appeals court recently upheld a decision that allowed the village of Melrose Park to terminate a firefighter for not meeting its residency requirements. The ruling dismissed the firefighter’s claim that his termination violated due process rights.
The case involved John Cannici, a former firefighter in Melrose Park, who was fired after the village found he wasn’t living in the area full-time. A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago confirmed the dismissal of his claims related to due process and equal protection.
According to the village code, all officers and employees must be residents of Melrose Park unless exempted. Cannici had lived there until 2008, when he moved to Orland Park, where his wife and children resided. While he continued to live in Melrose Park during his shifts, he spent weekends with his family in Orland Park, which led to allegations of violating the residency rules.
The court noted that Melrose Park provided exactly what Illinois law requires in cases of just-cause termination: written charges, a hearing, and the chance to present evidence. The judges ruled that the administrative review process did not strip Cannici of any protected interest or violate his equal protection rights.
In the opinion, Judge William J. Bauer mentioned that Cannici's legal team had previously secured a favorable ruling from a state court judge on the administrative review issue, and that case was put on hold while this appeal was being decided. “We have no reason to believe that Cannici’s due process rights were violated,†he wrote.
The court also referenced a Supreme Court precedent, stating that the Equal Protection Clause is typically not triggered in situations where government employers make individualized personnel decisions that may seem arbitrary or irrational. Based on this, the court concluded that Cannici’s equal protection argument didn’t hold up.
Thanks, Dan
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