The City of St. Charles and its insurance carrier have agreed to pay $310,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by former Police Chief Donald Shaw, who claimed he was demoted in 2003 for pursuing minor ordinance violations against supporters of the former mayor.
By a unanimous 10-0 vote Monday night, the City Council agreed to pay $20,000 of the settlement with insurance covering the rest. U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow, presiding over the case, was expected to approve the agreement at a court hearing Thursday.
“This settlement is total vindication for Don Shaw,” his attorney, Jon Loevy, said Tuesday in a prepared statement. “Don had the courage to do his job the right way, even if that caused waves with his superiors.”
St. Charles acknowledges no wrongdoing in the case. Mayor Donald DeWitte said Shaw was not reappointed chief in 2003 “for reasons pertaining to his job performance.” Shaw, who has served as a sergeant on the force since his demotion, will remain in that position.
“Frankly, any litigation that can be avoided is in the best interest of the city,” DeWitte said. “Given the uncertainty of the trial process, the insurance carriers felt that it was in the best interests of everyone involved to settle this and get it behind us.”
Shaw, appointed chief in 1999, was notified in February 2003 that his contract as chief would not be renewed. At the time, Shaw was overseeing the investigation of an alleged ticket fix for a political supporter of then-Mayor Susan Klinkhamer.
Shaw ordered the investigation after Kane County prosecutors dropped charges of speeding and failing to display a license plate that had been filed against Dean Courser, a major donor to Klinkhamer’s campaign. In his lawsuit, Shaw also contended Klinkhamer had tried to persuade him to drop the citations, which were filed in July 2002.
Shaw’s legal complaint alleged that Klinkhamer criticized Shaw for citing owners of a local restaurant, McNally’s Irish Pub, for selling alcohol to minors in a police sting of establishments in 2002. The officers and owners of McNally’s had given Klinkhamer her largest cash donation in 2001.
After the citation, McNally’s was given “extreme favoritism” in being punished, Shaw alleged.
Klinkhamer lost her re-election bid in April. She could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Larry Maholland, the city administrator who demoted Shaw in 2003, said he was glad the lawsuit was behind him and the city. Maholland retired in October.
“These kinds of cases often are concluded not based on who is right and who is wrong, but based on economic impact,” Maholland said. He presented “200 pages” in his deposition detailing why Shaw’s performance led to his demotion, he said.
Shaw filed suit in September 2003, seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and reinstatement as police chief. Lefkow dismissed the lawsuit in December 2004 but reinstated it in July. The judge stated that her review of the complaint showed Maholland decided to demote Shaw after he began pressing for an investigation of the alleged ticket fix.
Shaw declined to characterize the settlement as vindication.
“I never thought I needed vindication,” he said. “I knew what the truth was. I knew what the facts were. I knew those things would shine through and that justice would prevail.
“I didn’t sell my badge for political reasons, and I feel pretty good about that,” Shaw said.
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tgregory@tribune.com
