Deputy files racial discrimination suit against Zaruba, DuPage County

A DuPage County sheriff's deputy has filed a federal lawsuit claiming racial discrimination against Sheriff John Zaruba and members of his administrative staff.

Deputy Copres Carr, who is black, filed the 15-page document this week naming the county, Zaruba, Chief James Kruse, Maj. Anthony Romanelli, Sgt. James Williams and Sgt. Jack Dellinger as defendants.

Carr, 42, has been with the department for 18 years and has worked in court security for the past six. He also has served as a field training officer in both the court security and corrections divisions.

According to the suit, the alleged discrimination began in March 2013 and continued through 2015.

The complaint, which the deputy filed without an attorney, says Carr "was given unorthodox orders, rules, prevented from promotion, and given unrealistic, unattainable goals in order to be prevented from achieving higher scores on evaluations, advancement and promotions within the DuPage County Sheriff Department."

Carr declined to comment on the suit Friday morning. Paul Darrah, spokesman for DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin, who represents the county and Zaruba in such matters, also declined to comment, saying the office had not yet seen the suit.

According to the complaint, Carr, despite being qualified as a field training officer, routinely received evaluation scores of 67 and 69, just below the threshold score of 70 required to allow him to test to become a sergeant. The suit alleges Carr's superiors predetermined his scores to prevent him from testing because of his race.

The suit also alleges Williams and Dellinger retaliated against him, by giving him unwarranted citations or written reprimands after Carr expressed concerns about his treatment to them and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The commission granted Carr a Notice of Right to Sue letter on Sept. 30.

Zaruba could not be reached for comment.

This is the latest of several federal suits filed against Zaruba and the sheriff's office.

Seven deputies filed suit in late 2013 accusing Zaruba of retaliating against them for supporting union efforts and refusing to fund his election campaigns. That lawsuit is ongoing.

In October 2013, the county reached an $800,000 settlement with Susan Lakics, a sheriff's employee who sued in 2009 alleging she was passed over for a promotion because of sexual discrimination and a political beef between Zaruba and her husband, a former mayor of West Chicago.