While seven Aurora police officers have demanded a jury trial in their federal lawsuit against the city and former records manager, the defendants plan to ask a judge to dismiss the case, according to a new court filing.
The City of Aurora and former records manager Jo Ann Osberg intend to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit over the alleged disclosure of the officers’ personal information to an imprisoned gang associate, according to a status report filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
The officers’ investigation led to the incarceration of a violent felon associated with the upper levels of a street gang, who obtained their information from prison through a Freedom of Information Act request, according to the lawsuit.
As the case progresses, records obtained by The Beacon-News show a state prison inmate convicted of attempted murder asked for information on officers whose work helped send him to prison, on the pretense of pursing a narrow type of appeal called “postconviction relief.”
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In a July complaint, lawyers for the officers labeled city employees’ conduct “extreme and outrageous,” stating the city wrongly released private, personal and protected information about the seven officers and investigators, including their names, home addresses, Social Security numbers, phone numbers and details about family members.
The city and Osberg should have known that information would compromise the safety of the officers and their families, according to the lawsuit.
The parties “engaged in some settlement discussions” before the officers filed suit, according to Tuesday’s status report, which states initial disclosures and discovery are needed before they could reach any settlement. Both sides said they’re open to continuing settlement talks in the future, which could include requesting a settlement conference before a magistrate judge.
The current discovery plan includes an Oct. 18 deadline for initial disclosures. The report speculated that a trial would last about five days. Attorneys representing each party could not be reached Wednesday.
Meredith Buckley and Seth Halpern, of Chicago-based law firm Malkinson & Halpern, filed the suit on behalf of John Munn, Darrell Moore, Marco Gomez, Armando Montemayor, Arturo Montemayor, Michael Nilles and Leonard Casamassimo, who are all officers or investigators with the Aurora Police Department, and their spouses and children. John Murphey and Amber Samuelson of Rosenthal, Murphey, Coblentz & Donahue are representing both the city and Osberg.
In October 2015, the city mailed “largely unredacted” personnel files to the requester at the Menard Correctional Center, where he’s serving an 88-year sentence, the lawsuit states. The officers weren’t informed their information had been released until late 2016 “due to acts and omissions” by the city and Osberg, the lawsuit claims.
Meanwhile, the man in prison could have shared the information with other people, including other gang members, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims the city has taken no timely or effective action to remedy the harm caused to all the officers and their families, who remain in a state of compromised safety and must contemplate home security systems, relocations, online identity protection, and changes to names, telephones, activities and daily lives.
Jesse Alvarez, an inmate at Menard, has made a habit of mailing FOIA requests to the city from prison.
Kane County Circuit Judge Susan Clancy Boles sentenced Alvarez in March 2014 to 88 years in the state prison system for shooting and trying to kill a rival street gang member in 2009, The Beacon-News reported.
In a handwritten request dated Sept. 16, 2015, Alvarez sought “any and all information” on Moore, Munn, Gomez, Casamassimo, and an officer not named in the lawsuit, stating he was doing an “investigation” on all officers, detectives, state’s attorneys and judges pertaining to his case.
The city’s response to that records request states they redacted information including addresses and personal telephone numbers, dates of birth and persons who incidentally appeared in the report, and the identity and information provided by confidential sources.
In July, city officials responded to questions about the lawsuit with an emailed statement.
“The City realizes the seriousness of this matter for all families involved,” according to the statement. “…it is important to note the release of information in this case was inadvertent, and the City took immediate corrective action by implementing extensive procedures and employee training to protect against inappropriate release of information in the future. The individual responsible is no longer employed with the City of Aurora.”
Osberg was placed on paid administrative leave Dec. 12, according to records in her personnel file. Her severance date is March 31.
Osberg, whose ending salary was $65,291, made $48,922 per year when she was hired as office manager for the police department’s records division in June 2012 under former police chief Greg Thomas.