Doe v. Cook County, Ill.

In action by group of juvenile detainees housed in Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center alleging that they suffered abuse by employees of Center, Dist. Ct. erred in approving plan by Center’s Administrator to terminate approximately 225 direct-care employees of Center and to require said employees to reapply for their jobs under new employment guidelines that would have disqualified 180 of said employees, where said unilateral plan ran counter to certain Illinois statutes requiring Administrator to engage in collective bargaining with employees’ union and to submit to arbitration if unable to reach agreement with union. Administrator could not unilaterally impose re-employment plan where, as here, Dist. Ct. made no finding that said plan would address any ongoing violation of federal law, as required under section 3626 of Prison Litigation and Reform Act, and where Dist. Ct.’s rationale that said plan would provide quick and flexible remedy to Administrator was insufficient to override applicable state law requiring Administrator to negotiate said issue with union. (Dissent filed.)