Employee's federal termination suit against Bianchi dismissed
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that alleged McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi improperly fired an employee who testified against him at Bianchi's official misconduct trial.
Northern Illinois District Judge Philip G. Reinhard dismissed a charge that Bianchi violated Kirk Chrzanowski's First Amendment free-speech rights. He also dismissed a charge that Assistant State's Attorney Michael Combs violated Chrzanowski's First Amendment rights by “interrogating” him about his testimony given before a grand jury and in court.
Chrzanowski's rights weren't violated, the judge ruled, because when he testified he was acting in his official capacity as a McHenry County Assistant State's Attorney, not as a private citizen.
“Public employees who speak pursuant to their official duties speak as employees rather than citizens, and thus their speech is not protected by the First Amendment,” Reinhard wrote.
Bianchi and Combs, then, were legally entitled to immunity against Chrzanowski's claim.
The judge also granted Chrzanowski's request to withdraw his charges against the state's attorney's office for retaliatory discharge and violation of the Illinois Whistleblowers Act; against Bianchi and the state's attorney's office that they violated the Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics Act; and a claim against McHenry County.
Chrzanowski worked for the state's attorney's office from January 2006 to Dec. 2, 2011. He testified before a grand jury in 2011, and then at a criminal trial against Bianchi, who was charged with official misconduct.
Bianchi was accused of interfering in a case where the defendant was a relative of a campaign donor, and of arranging for a reduced sentence for a cocaine dealer who was a distant relative of an assistant state's attorney. Chrzanowski was the prosecutor on the cocaine case, and wanted the defendant to serve more time. He testified he saw Bianchi nod to the defendant's family in the courtroom when the plea agreement was being consummated.
Bianchi was found not guilty of the misconduct charges.