A former Orland Park police officer filed a lawsuit against the village and police department leaders alleging he was fired in retaliation for complaining about being denied a promotion because he's Hispanic.
William Sanchez, who served in the department for nearly 20 years before being fired in March of 2024, claims department leadership "displayed troubling attitudes toward race" that made him feel discriminated against.
According to the suit, one white officer was promoted twice by the village, despite being photographed wearing blackface and "making racially charged remarks toward an African American arrestee." Another white officer had been hired despite a background check that revealed he had made comments about lynching a Black suspect.
The two white officers were not named in the suit and no further details about the incidents were mentioned.
The lawsuit names Chief of Police Eric Rossi and former Deputy Chief Brian West. West is currently the interim assistant village manager, according to the Orland Park staff directory. Former village manager George Koczwara is also named as a defendant.
Sanchez’s lawsuit seeks reinstatement, back pay and unspecified damages.
In a statement, the village said it cannot discuss specifics on ongoing litigation but it "stands by its actions and those of its employees and remains confident that they were appropriate and fully compliant with the law."
In May 2023, Sanchez, who is Mexican American, met with Rossi to share his belief that the village — and in particular West — was denying Sanchez a promotion to lieutenant because Sanchez is Hispanic, the suit alleges.
Sanchez believed he was being discriminated against in part because when he took on the role of supervisor of the traffic safety unit at the rank of sergeant, Rossi told Sanchez that he would next be promoted to lieutenant after another officer retired, the suit states. But nine months after the retirement Sanchez had still not been promoted.
In addition, five previous traffic safety unit supervisors, all of whom were Caucasian, had either started that position at the rank of lieutenants or were later promoted, the suit states. Sanchez also believed that he was being asked to do more work at lower pay and lower rank than prior unit supervisors.
Sanchez couldn't find "legitimate justification" for his being treated differently because he consistently performed well in his role and had no significant history of discipline or misconduct, the suit states.
Rossi told Sanchez that if he felt he was being discriminated against he should file formal complaints. Sanchez then filed complaints with the village, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights.
West eventually filed his own complaint with the village, alleging that Sanchez had created a “hostile work environment” by making claims of discrimination against him.
A third-party investigation that followed “was a sham, its outcome predetermined,” Sanchez's suit alleges. The resulting report issued in December 2023 deemed Sanchez’s allegations of discrimination unfounded while sustaining West’s allegations.
The next month, Sanchez was informed that the village was considering firing him for misconduct. The “misconduct” officials cited was filing complaints, which is “indisputably protected activity,” the suit states.
After Sanchez was fired he filed a grievance with his union, the Orland Park Supervisors Association, to challenge the termination and demand arbitration.
In January the arbitrator found that Sanchez “was not discharged for just cause” and ordered the village to reinstate him, according to the lawsuit. The village disagreed with the findings and filed a motion in Cook County circuit court asking the court to vacate the arbitrator's decision.
