Plaintiff police officer sued City and Police & Fire Board after he was passed over for promotion. Played delayed filing suit for 1 year after learning that he had not been promoted. In civil service cases, unexplained delay longer than 6 months is per se unreasonable. As Plaintiff offers no reason for his delay, the delay was unreasonable. Court properly dismissed claims on basis of laches, because City would suffer inherent prejudice if Plaintiff's suit succeeded and City was required to compensate Plaintiff for services rendered by 2 officers who were promoted in lieu of Plaintiff over past 3 years. Plaintiff's federal claims, because they could not have been before Police & Fire Board, were properly raised in circuit court. (HYMAN and NEVILLE, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Laches