Prospect Heights fire announces lawsuit win

The Prospect Heights Fire Protection District announced Tuesday that it had won a four-year court case over the dismissal of its former firefighter of the year.

Paul Elsner, who won the honor in 2004, was terminated in 2007 and had “deliberately and intentionally falsified information on his employment application,” the district said in a news release, quoting a September opinion from the Illinois Appellate Court.

The Circuit Court of Cook County informed the district that Elsner’s attorney recently dismissed all claims against the district, the news release said.

Elsner was a lieutenant and had been working for the department for 10 years when he earned the firefighter of the year award in 2004. He also received that honor in 1996.