The first Black police chief of a small Chicago suburb has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit after being fired one year into the job due to concerns that came up his first performance review.
Jerel Jones, who took the helm of the Flossmoor Police Department in March 2023, filed the civil action March 11 after he was terminated earlier in the month, claiming the Cook County village engaged in a pattern of racism to get rid of him.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages to cover what Jones should have been paid, including his salary and benefits.
Flossmoor Mayor Michelle Nelson announced Jones’ firing on March 7, saying the city was “parting ways” with Jones, however, she did not provide specific reasons for his removal, emphasizing that the matter concerning Jones was “strictly about performance.”
Hundreds of residents packed city hall last week to voice support for Jones when word of his potential dismissal due to job friction became public.
In a statement, Nelson indicated that after 12 months, Jones had failed to perform satisfactorily in the position.
“When a leader of a critical department is not meeting expectations, the ripple effect can adversely impact the entire department, and the organization, and even the community,” Nelson wrote.
Attorneys for Jones contested the handling of his dismissal, alleging that he was deliberately set up for failure, while blasting the firing as an “act of race discrimination and retaliation.”
“Folks, this is race-based animus through and through,” attorney Cass Casper of the Disparti Law Group said, according to CBS News. “This is a Black department head and not meeting up to the expectations of a white administration because he’s Black.”
At a news conference with his attorneys on Monday, Jones said that when he took the job last March, there was nothing in his contract about any specific length of employment, while noting that he was the only Black department…
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