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Round Lake Hts. cop sues chief, claims harassment

A former Round Lake Heights police officer alleges in a federal lawsuit that he was fired in August after refusing his police chief's repeated sexual advances.

Chief John Roehlk and the village are named as defendants in Hossein “Sam” Isbitan's suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Text messages Roehlk purportedly sent Isbitan referring to him as “stud muffin” and “my rock star” are referenced in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages for sexual discrimination, workplace harassment, wrongful termination and other allegations.

“When things got strange up there, our client started saving text messages and gifts and things,” said attorney Thomas Needham, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Isbitan.

In an email, Roehlk referred questions about the suit to Village Attorney Rudolph Magna.

Magna said the village denied the accusations when Isbitan first filed them with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which later issued the former officer a right-to-sue ruling. He said the village's insurance carrier will handle the matter in federal court.

The suit alleges that soon after his hiring in November 2013, Isbitan, 31, was told by Roehlk that he was “looking sexy” and “hot.” Roehlk invited the officer to go shopping with him and spend evenings at his home, according to court documents.

At a holiday party at the Round Lake Heights police station in late December 2013, the suit says, Roehlk rubbed Isbitan's back and shoulders in the presence of others.

The suit alleges Roehlk continued to pursue a personal and romantic relationship with Isbitan in 2014. Roehlk purportedly told Isbitan that he was “sexy” and wanted a picture with him in March while they attended a funeral for a police officer from another community, the suit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, Roehlk also sent Isbitan several text messages and images, along with a University of Notre Dame football cap as a gift. Needham said screen shots of the messages and photographs will be evidence in the case.

On one occasion, the suit alleges, Roehlk sent a photo of a heart-shaped piece of pink candy with a message emblazoned: “I (expletive) LOVE YOU.”

Other text messages the suit says came from Roehlk refer to Isbitan as a “stud muffin,” “stud” and “rock star.”

Isbitan reportedly complained several times about the chief's “inappropriate and bizarre behavior” to Sgt. Scott Crawford.

“Sgt. Crawford, however, took no action, provided (Isbitan) with no guidance and did nothing to investigate plaintiff's complaints,” the suit states.

Crawford could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

According to the suit, Roehlk became hostile, moody and rude to Isbitan in April and May. Roehlk fired Isbitan in August, telling him he wasn't “fitting in” at the department, the suit states.

The suit contends the firing was a result of the officer refusing Roehlk's persistent sexual advances, and that the chief repeatedly praised Isbitan's job performance in 2014.

Needham said his client, a former Lake County sheriff's courtroom deputy, remains unemployed. He said the firing has affected Isbitan's ability to find law-enforcement work.

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