Settlement possible in civil rights suit
Lawyers for the village of Cary are talking settlement with a former public works director who claims he was fired for complaining about employees being required to work on village officials' private property.
Federal court records show that representatives for the village and Robin Mohr will meet May 26 with U.S. District Court Judge Maria Valdez to discuss an out-of-court resolution to the civil rights lawsuit Mohr filed last year.
The scheduled talks by no means guarantees a settlement, but indicates both sides may not be eager to take their dispute through a costly -- and risky -- trial process.
Mohr attorney Keith Hunt could not be reached for comment. A phone number listed for him with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission and court records was not taking calls.
Mohr, the village's former assistant director of maintenance, claims he was fired in August 2005 for being too outspoken about village policies and the use of village employees. Among his complaints, according to his suit, were that village workers removed a tree from Mayor Steve Lamal's property and delivered mulch to the homes of village trustees.
Lamal and other village officials vehemently deny those allegations, saying it was a failed drug test in July 2005 that led to Mohr's firing. A village employee of 30 years, Mohr tested positive for marijuana after returning from a vacation in Jamaica, court documents state.
Mohr's suit, however, claims at least three other village employees failed drug tests, but they received only 10-day suspensions and referrals for substance abuse treatment instead of dismissal.
The difference between him and the others, Mohr claims, was his criticism of village policy.
The settlement talks come on the heels of a legal victory for Mohr. A court ruled that the village must turn over drug test results and personnel records of other employees.
The village had contested Mohr's request for those documents, arguing that it would violate federal privacy laws. Valdez, however, sided with Mohr's lawyer, who said the information was necessary to determine whether his client was treated differently by village officials.
Coercion claim: They made him do it? That's the claim of a McHenry man accused of trying to hire a hit man to take out his own son, according to court documents filed by his defense last week.
Attorneys for William G. Gersch may pursue either an entrapment or compulsion defense when the 59-year-old McHenry man goes on trial on allegations that could put him behind bars for up to 30 years.
The filing means defense lawyers will try to convince jurors Gersch either was coerced into trying to hire a hit man or felt so threatened by his son, he believed he had no choice but to kill him first.
Gersch, 59, faces a charge of solicitation of murder for hire. He is accused of offering a man $5,000 to kill his son -- and neighbor -- William J. Gersch.
The would-be hit man, however, was actually an undercover FBI agent who had been put in touch with the elder Gersch through a confidential informant, police said.
He was arrested in January 2007 after meeting with the agent and giving him $2,500 as down payment for the murder, authorities said.
Authorities said the alleged murder plot was the result of years of friction, sometimes punctuated by violent episodes between father and son. The elder Gersch, investigators said, blames the son for the breakup of his marriage and was feuding with his son over visitation with his grandchildren.
Gersch, who is free on $100,000 bond, is scheduled to be in court next on June 5 for a pre-trial status hearing. No trial date in his case has been scheduled.