Des Plaines cop gets $125,000 in settlement

Des Plaines paid veteran police Sgt. Matthew Hicks $125,000 to leave the police force and drop all claims of wrongful discharge against the city, including an employment discrimination complaint, according to a 10-page settlement agreement obtained by the Daily Herald.

Hicks, an 18-year Des Plaines police department employee, faces domestic battery charges in McHenry County accusing him of striking his wife, pulling her hair, and preventing her from calling police on April 18, 2010, at their Huntley home.

Des Plaines police initially suspended Hicks with pay after his April 2010 arrest. Hicks has been suspended without pay since August.

In April, the Des Plaines police department dropped seven internal misconduct charges against Hicks after both sides came to an agreement that Hicks would get $125,000, apply for a disability pension and never again work as a police officer for the city.

According to a joint written statement released by both parties at the time, Hicks has not admitted to any wrongdoing and “the parties entered into the agreement in order to prevent the accrual of substantial legal costs in both state and federal courts.”

Hicks submitted a retirement letter dated April 20 and has applied for a non-duty related disability pension.

An independent Des Plaines police pension board will decide whether the 46-year-old Hicks is eligible for a disability pension. If approved by the pension board, Hicks’ retirement won’t actually go into effect until his 50th birthday on Dec. 20, 2014.

A date for the pension board hearing has not been set. The board will hire doctors to examine Hicks and report their findings, Des Plaines Deputy Police Chief Mike Kozak said.

If the disability pension is denied, Hicks has agreed to not return to police service, and won’t be entitled to any other compensation from the city aside from the $125,000, according to the settlement agreement.

As part of the settlement, which the city turned over in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the city has agreed to allow Hicks to remain on its medical plan and pay his employee share of the premium for medical insurance until the police pension board decides on his disability application.

The city also has agreed to put $30,372 into Hicks’ retirement health savings account. That includes payment for benefits such as sick leave and personal days not taken before Aug. 4, 2010.

The city also agreed if Hicks were to seek employment elsewhere, the city would provide the prospective employer with “a written neutral employment verification, consisting only of the dates of Sgt. Hicks’ employment and positions with the city.”

Des Plaines police had charged Hicks with inability to act as a police officer; untruthfulness; insubordination; theft and official misconduct; domestic battery and official misconduct; interfering with the reporting of domestic violence; and conduct unbecoming. The charges stemmed from Hicks’ arrest last year in McHenry County.

Hicks has pleaded not guilty to domestic battery and related charges, all misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. If convicted of domestic battery, Hicks would be barred from possessing a firearm. A jury trial for Hicks is set for Oct. 3.