Ex-DuPage Co. cop alleges sexual discrimination in suit

Is Susan A. Kuttner a crusader, wrongfully fired from her job as a DuPage County sheriff's deputy after speaking out against sexual discrimination and unsafe conditions for female deputies?

Or is she a chronic complainer and deserving of termination after she wrongfully used her position as an officer to try to collect a debt for her boyfriend?

Those issues are the crux of a federal sexual discrimination lawsuit Kuttner has filed against Sheriff John Zaruba and DuPage County. It is the second civil rights complaint of its type lodged in recent months against Zaruba.

Kuttner filed the lawsuit July 9, less than five months after she lost a hearing before the sheriff's merit commission to keep her job.

Kuttner worked nearly 12 years in the DuPage County jail, where the 34-year-old Bolingbrook woman said she was physically attacked by female inmates due to unsafe conditions. Kuttner said she often complained to management, but to no avail.

She lost her job Feb. 24 "despite an unblemished, exemplary record" on a baseless pretext, the suit alleges, while male deputies accused of far worse infractions not only remained but, in some cases, were later promoted.

In her lawsuit, Kuttner names 15 male deputies who were not fired despite various wrong acts, such as drunken driving arrests, domestic battery, drug use, sexual harassment, soliciting prostitutes, stealing, on-duty political campaigning and viewing pornography on work computers.

Zaruba referred comment to DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett, who as the county's lawyer represents the sheriff's office, which employs an estimated 550 people. Birkett said he anticipates the lawsuit will be promptly dismissed, though he declined to elaborate. Birkett also said the lawsuit was designed to try to smear the sheriff's office through sensational headlines to leverage a favorable outcome in court.

"We're going to file an appropriate response," Birkett said, "and are confident it will be dismissed. The sheriff runs a very large department, the second largest in the state, with hundreds of employees. In my opinion, he does an excellent job."

One of the deputies named in the discrimination lawsuit is retired Chief Thomas Duhig, the sheriff's brother-in-law, who Kuttner said was the source behind many sexual harassment complaints. For example, former sheriff's dispatcher Tammie Vlach accused Duhig in a 2002 federal lawsuit of a series of unwanted sexual advances. Vlach settled her suit two years later for $10,000, federal court records showed. She did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Attorney James Sotos, who as the county's attorney then represented Duhig, said Vlach lacked evidence to back up her claims, as evidenced by the small payout.

Kuttner said she lobbied for safer female inmate jail doors, new radios/transmitters and increased female deputy staffing, and on other issues such as equal promotions and benefits.

"For several years, I attempted to bring about change along with other female deputies," Kuttner said in an interview, "but we were ignored and instead were retaliated against for speaking out."

The lawsuit names two other female deputies who were fired or forced to resign for infractions Kuttner argues were less egregious than those of the named male counterparts. One of the ex-deputies, Wendy Sears, agreed with Kuttner that women are subjected to discrimination.

"It's a boys club. If you don't belong to the club, you're out," said Sears, who resigned from her 15-year job in August 2008 after being accused of running a license plate for personal use. "I loved my job and, if you look at my work file, it's exemplary. If I had the money, I would have fought it to the highest court, but you can't fight city hall."

Some of the misdeeds of male deputies alleged by Kuttner were captured on videotape, the suit states. For example, a male deputy had sex with a Villa Park woman in his squad car during an intimate relationship in 2003 and 2004 after a domestic violence call in which the deputy arrested the woman's husband for battery, according to the lawsuit. It states the husband later hired a private investigator, who filmed the trysts. The deputy later was promoted to sergeant.

"None of these are based on speculation," said Kuttner's attorney, Maurice J. Salem. "They are based on 12 years of inside information and supporting documents. We have solid evidence and we intend to prove these allegations in court with the intent to change the policies of the sheriff's office and its pattern of discrimination."

Zaruba, who has been with the sheriff's department since 1974, rose to the top spot in 1997 when he was selected to finish the remaining term of retiring Sheriff Richard Doria. Zaruba easily won election in 1998, 2002 and 2006, and garnered more than 80 percent of the vote in this February's GOP primary.

Zaruba served as the 2009 president of the National Sheriffs' Association and an Illinois Sheriffs' Association vice president. The DuPage County jail has won consistent praise and reaccreditation from correctional associations. One longtime female deputy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the office's no-talk media policy, said Zaruba is a strong advocate for women.

Added Birkett: "I don't know how they could have that superior reputation and, at the same time, have the kind of behavior that is alleged to be going on."

Zaruba did ensure a respected crime scene investigator was investigated after an internal audit uncovered missing money out of seized property. Paul Dunklau, a 23-year sheriff's veteran, pleaded guilty to official misconduct in November and was ordered to repay nearly $10,000.

Kuttner's complaint is the second such sex discrimination suit filed against Zaruba's office in recent months. On Nov. 4, deputy Susan Lakics accused her supervisors of allowing an "intimidating, hostile and offensive work environment."

The 49-year-old West Chicago woman is a 14-year sheriff's deputy assigned to patrol. In the lawsuit, Lakics also alleges she has been passed up for promotions despite being ranked sixth out of more than 60 in a test for sergeant because Zaruba had a political falling out with her husband, Steve, who served as West Chicago's mayor for eight years until his April 2001 election defeat.

Neither Lakics nor her attorney, Kimberly Carr, returned phone calls seeking comment.

In Kuttner's firing, the merit commission found her guilty of violating two administrative regulations in a single off-duty incident stemming from a dispute between her boyfriend, Steven A. Cooper, with whom she operates a private mortgage loan company, and Indian pop star Reggie Benjamin.

Cooper, 48, of Glen Ellyn, reported Benjamin to the police after his check for a $7,000 loan bounced. Sheriff's detectives in October 2009 wound up arresting Cooper, also known as Moustafa Abed Elsalam Elturky, on charges he unlawfully recorded a telephone conversation and charged an excessive interest rate for the loan. He has pleaded not guilty.

Kuttner was never criminally charged. But she was brought up on administrative charges by her supervisors for wearing her uniform when stopping by the Hinsdale home of Benjamin's parents while attempting to reach their son. When asked by the Daily Herald about the incident, Benjamin's parents declined to be named, but one of them said of Kuttner: "She came here dressed as a police officer. She was rude and intimidating."

Deputies are not allowed to comment to the media, but nine female deputies besides Kuttner and Sears spoke to the Daily Herald on the condition of anonymity. Most agreed it's a boys club in which women aren't treated as well as their male counterparts. Still, they also said it's a good job with good benefits.

But those same deputies said Kuttner had a reputation as a troublemaker.

Kuttner acknowledges she often complained, but insists it was to stand up against discrimination and unsafe work conditions. Regardless, she said, her punishment does not fit the crime, especially in light of more serious allegations against the male deputies she names.

"I was a good, ethical and hardworking officer," Kuttner said. "I don't feel I did anything wrong to deserve this. I want change, for the sheriff to cease discriminating against females, and I want compensation for the income, benefits and retirement taken from me."