The HCBullet: The blog of the Attorneys at HCB

Court found that City had no notice of the dangerous condition and was entitled to immunity where Plaintiff tripped over a water shut off valve.

December 16, 2020

The Honorable James R. Murphy in Kane County Illinois granted summary judgment on a resident’s negligence claim against the City of Geneva in Robert Ingold v. City of Geneva, et al., Kane Co. Case No. 2018 L 591.  Plaintiff, a city resident, tripped and fell over a water-shut-off valve in a parkway outside a bakery…

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HCB is excited to announce Local Police News!

November 3, 2020

HCB was disappointed to hear that Sarah Cole retired from NEMERT, and we would no longer be receiving Local Police News. We reached out to Sarah, and with NEMERT’s blessing, she has agreed to team up with us to continue producing Local Police News for our and NEMERT’s subscribers. We are excited to announce our…

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Jury Finds Sheriff’s Office is not Responsible for Former Sheriff’s Misconduct

October 29, 2020

After a weeklong trial, a federal jury found that former Rock Island County Sheriff Jeffery Boyd did not act within the scope of his employment when he harassed, threatened, and stalked a  woman he was romantically interested in. In 2014, Boyd pled guilty to attempted official misconduct and resigned in disgrace after a state police…

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Constructive Termination Claims by Former Deputy Fire Chief Dismissed

October 29, 2020

To the average citizen, being “terminated” from your job is a euphemism for being fired. If you resigned, you were not terminated. The law largely agrees. There is a narrow exception for working conditions that are so intolerable they amount to “constructive termination.” But a recent decision from the Central District of Illinois reiterates that…

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Court Rejects “State Created Danger” Claim Against Elementary School Staff

October 29, 2020

The Supreme Court has long held that the federal constitution restricts government action. It is not a remedy for every private misdeed—even when creative litigants, in their search for a deeper pocket, try and pin that private wrong on some public employer or agency. A recent summary judgment ruling from the Central District of Illinois…

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