Injured Lake in the Hills cop tries to block his dismissal

The union lawyer representing injured Lake in the Hills Police Officer Lee Lathrop has filed a motion to dismiss the village's termination case against his client.

Ronald Cicinelli, an attorney with the Metropolitan Alliance of Police, says Lathrop's injury is not a legal reason for the officer's dismissal.

"I'm saying it's a wrongful termination because there is no cause," Cicinelli said. "Other people say there is because he can't do the job. I'm saying no, that's not a substantial shortcoming by what is defined both by law and case law."

James Wales, Lake in the Hills' director of public safety, is seeking to fire Lathrop because the officer has not resigned since suffering the severe knee injury that has kept him off duty nearly 18 months.

Lathrop joined the department in 2001 and last reported to work January 23, 2009. Three doctors have determined Lathrop, 37, is no longer up to the physical challenges of being a police officer, because of the injury sustained during a work-related training session.

Because it was an on-the-job injury, Lathrop was entitled to collect his base salary of $74,243 without deductions for one year after the accident. Under workman's compensation laws, Lathrop continues to collect two-thirds of his salary.

Cicinelli also argues it would be wrong to ax Lathrop before the pension board rules on whether he'll receive a disability pension. Lathrop applied in July 2009 for a disability pension that would allow him to collect 65 percent of his current salary.

The board has the option of awarding the pension and forcing Lathrop to see a doctor every year to prove he's disabled.

If he's ever healthy enough to return to the force, he would be immediately reinstated, Cicinelli said. If Lathrop gets fired, that option disappears.

But Village Attorney Carlos Arevalo doubts Lathrop will ever return to police work.

"I think the issue that we understood from the doctors is that this (injury) is permanent," Arevalo said.

The Lake in the Hills Police Commission likely will discuss the Lathrop matter in August.