A Cook County man is suing a former Chicago school teacher and the city's board of education alleging negligence in a child molestation case dating to the 1970s.
The plaintiff, identified as John Doe 5, filed a lawsuit Aug. 3, in Cook County Circuit Court, against Thomas Hacker, the Chicago Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools, alleging negligence, civil battery and emotional distress.
According to the complaint, the abuse took place at a Chicago area camp when the plaintiff was 12 and a student at John C. Haines Elementary School. The plaintiff alleges physical and psychological damage resulting from the molestation, as well as economic and non-economic damage in an amount to be proved at trial.
The suit says the school board concealed Hacker’s history of abuse and knowingly allowed him to work with children unsupervised.
The plaintiff seeks a jury trial and damages of at least $50,000. He is represented by attorneys Christopher T. Hurley and Evan M. Smola of Hurley McKenna & Murtz in Chicago.
Cook County Circuit Court case number 2015-L-007865.