Illinois Lawyer Blog

More details are emerging about precisely how early Church authorities were aware of alleged sexual misconduct on the part of Rev. Donald J. McGuire. McGuire was a teacher at Loyola Academy in the late 1960's. In 1969, Rev. Charles Schlax contacted the the president of Loyola, Rev. John Reinke, to complain about McGuire. A young man had complained to Fr. Schlax that McGuire was a "pervert". The youth had apparently been staying at Loyola for as much as a week at a time, including nights. Schlax had requested an investigation into McGuire. Shortly thereafter McGuire was informed he was going to take a sabbatical.

Then in 2000, several families who had sons working as aides to McGuire expressed more concern about McGuire's behavior. One family reported that their son told them McGuire was overwhelming him with pornography and sexual discussions. Another family complained that McGuire was pressuring their son to avoid college, family and friends - and instead spend more time with McGuire. McGuire apparently encouraged the kid to sleep on the floor in his room, or in his bed.

Shockingly, McGuire's superiors have indicated as recently as 2005 that they had no knowledge of McGuire's proclivities. Turns out they had plenty of notice and allowed this guy to terrorize kids for 40 years.

Just this week, another sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against Rev. Donald McGuire, a Chicago area priest. The lawsuit, filed by two brothers, claims that McGuire sexually abused the two boys at different times. The older brother is claiming abuse from 1988 through 1994, while the younger brother is claiming abuse from 2001 through 2002.
In 2006, McGuire was convicted of molesting two boys in the 1960's. He is currently living in Oak Lawn, a southwest Chicago suburb, while that conviction is being appealed. He was only recently advised by his superiors that he can no longer wear his collar.

AND WHO PAYS THE PRICE??

In an ironic twist, just this week I saw another article about the efforts taken by the Los Angeles Diocese to fund the $660 million dollar settlement it reached with hundreds of sexual abuse victims. The diocese has decided to sell some 50 non-parish properties. One of those properties is the convent used by the Sisters of St. Bethany, located in Santa Barbara. The convent, which was built for the order in 1952 is currently occupied by three older nuns who work with the poor in the community. Although they do not pay rent, they do make sufficient funds to sustain the property. Recently, the Diocese advised them[in a letter]that they were to vacate the premises on or before 12/31/07. The Diocese defended its action by noting that everybody was having to sacrifice. By way of example, it was noted that Diocese employees didn't get a raise in 2007. Okay, but that doesn't quite equate with losing your home of 50 years. And not to put too fine a point on it, but the nuns didn't abuse any minors. Instead, that was done by 245 Diocese priests. And the unrebutted evidence indicates that for decades the Diocese didn't act on parent complaints, didn't call police and didn't warn parishioners when allegations were made against a particular priest. In fact, up until 2004, parishioners were not advised of allegations against a Diocese priest even if that priest was "sent away" for psychological counselling. How many of those 50 non-parish properties that house priests are being sold??

The Chicago Police Department is not having a particularly good month when it comes to lawsuits. Just a week after a 4 million dollar settlement to a man who claimed he was brutalized with a screwdriver, the Department was back in a federal courtroom in another civil case. This one didn't work out well for the CPD either.

The case originated from a 2001 incident. An unidentified man had approached an 8 year old girl near her home and and offered to take her on a "field trip". The girl's mother overhead the discussion, raced outside and chased the guy away. She then called police and provided a description of the suspect. In addition, posters, which included a drawing of the suspect, were put up in the Southwest side neighborhood where the incident occurred.

The police then got a tip. Someone called in and said the guy on the poster looked like a guy he had gone to school with - Tim Finwall. Finwall was then arrested, although there was evidence he was bartending at a local tavern at the time of the incident. Finwall was placed in a lineup with four cops. The girl came in and told police the suspect could be "the short one" or the "tall one". Not exactly a positive identification. Nonetheless, the police, in their reports, indicated that the girl had identified Finwall. Finwall was then charged with attempted child abduction. The case went to trial, and thankfully Finwall was acquitted. Interestingly, there was some evidence that perhaps the police had targeted Finwall because of an earlier incident. Apparently a police officer was drinking in the bar where Finwall worked and got into it with another patron. The officer allegedly made some threatening remarks to the patron and Finwall took the cop's gun. Finwall was then charged with some sort of offense dealing with disarming a police officer, tried and convicted. He served no time.

After the jury heard all the evidence, Finwall was awarded $2 million in damages. The City is of course very disappointed in the verdict, and evaluating their options. Perhaps the City should carefully evaluate its options BEFORE the multimillion dollar verdict.

A St. Louis county jury recently awarded a St. Louis woman $95,000 in punitive damages in a whistleblower trial Michelle Fleshner, 35, had sued Pepose Vision Institute, claiming that she was terminated by Dr. Jay Pepose because she had coooperated with a U.S. Department of Labor investigation of Pepose Vision Institute regarding wage and overtime practices. Ms. Fleshner talked to investigators on May 21, 2003. She was fired two days later. The defendant claimed Fleshner's discharge was coincidental and that a plan had been in place for months to reduce staff.

Ms. Fleshner also claimed at trial that Pepose even managed to get her fired from a subsequent job with different eye doctors. Pepose insisted he was simply enforcing a non-compete contract that Fleshner had signed with him.

Earlier the jury had awarded Fleshner $30,000 in compensatory damages. The results of the Labor Department investigation were not revealed at the trial.

A south suburban teenager, Travis Alexander, has agreed to settle his lawsuit against a south suburban Chicago Police Department. Alexander sued the Riverdale Police Department after he was tasered and attacked by a police dog. Alexander was 17 at the time of the incident. He and a friend were walking home from a store when they were stopped by a police officer. The police maintained they had received a tip that Alexander's friend was involved in a drug deal.

Alexander and his friend ran, claiming that they were scared of the Police. Alexander was only two doors from his house when caught. He was then handcuffed and tasered. In addition, the plaintiff alleged that the police allowed a German Shepherd Police dog to attack Alexander, causing him injuries on the leg and head. Although no contraband was found on Alexander, he was charged with resisting arrest and trespassing. He was ultimately exonerated of those charges. As a result of the incident, Alexander suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. The Riverdale Police department agreed to pay Alexander $345,000 to dismiss the case.

As reported last week, a New York jury recently hammered Madison Square Garden[MSG] and its chairman, James Dolan in a sexual harassment suit. Anucha Browne Sanders had sued MSG, Dolan and New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, claiming she had been subjected to a hostile work environment due to crude comments and sexual advances from Thomas. She also alleged that Dolan had fired her after she made complaints about Thomas. The defendants denied the allegations and portrayed Brown as a malcontent employee. That strategy backfired - badly. The jury awarded found that the Thomas had indeed created a hostile work environment, and awarded Browne $6 million dollars. Interestingly, the jury assessed those damages only against MSG and Dolan. Zero damages were assessed against Thomas.

In addition, the jury whacked MSG and Dolan for another $5.6 million for their discharge of Browne after she made her complaints. The defendants have vowed to appeal.

And MSG and Dolan aren't finished with courtrooms just yet. A New York Rangers cheerleader has sued them after being told she should look more "doable"