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Wheeling settles whistleblower suit brought by ex-cop for $250,000

A former Wheeling police commander who sued the village under the Illinois Whistleblower Act has settled the nearly four-year-old case for $250,000.

Although village officials agreed to pay plaintiff Richard Benbow, they aren't admitting liability in the matter, Village Manager Jon Sfondilis said. All but one of the claims in the suit have been dismissed, he noted.

“The village still maintains that it has done nothing wrong,” Sfondilis said. “This settlement is intended to avoid the time, expense and uncertainty of litigating the last claim.”

Benbow, who joined the department in 1990, had overseen Freedom of Information Act requests to the department starting in 2017. He sued the village after he retired in 2018.

In his lawsuit, Benbow alleged a detective had improperly deleted at least one text message being sought by someone who'd requested copies of such messages in December 2017. The detective deleted the data to avoid disclosure through an anticipated Freedom of Information Act request, the lawsuit stated, and then denied having any such messages.

That led to a dispute between Benbow and his bosses in the department, according to the lawsuit. Benbow claimed his workload subsequently was unfairly and unreasonably increased until he eventually retired. He filed the lawsuit in Cook County circuit court in December 2018.

In the lawsuit, Benbow claimed Wheeling officials retaliated against him for saying he believed the detective had violated the Freedom of Information Act and had lied about the text messages, and for saying more work was needed to search for and recover the desired records.

The village board approved the $250,000 settlement Monday night without discussion. It was included on the consent agenda for the meeting, a section reserved for items considered routine and not in need of public debate.

Benbow agreed to the settlement July 8. His attorney couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

The village will pay the settlement, a portion of which will go to Benbow's legal team, and then be reimbursed by its insurance carrier, documents indicate.

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