In the case of Rocco Coduto vs The County of Cook and Thomas J. Dart, filed in the Appellate Court of Illinois, First Judicial District (Case ID: 1-22-1837), dated March 26, 2024, plaintiff Rocco Coduto is appealing against his unpaid suspension and subsequent denial of back pay by Sheriff Thomas J. Dart. After an off-duty incident led to Coduto's arrest for driving under the influence, he was placed on unpaid suspension and charges were filed to terminate his employment. Despite the administrative board declining to terminate Coduto's employment and imposing a 180-day suspension instead, back pay for the time exceeding this period was not awarded.
The incident took place in May 2015 when Coduto was arrested for his third offense of driving under the influence. He reported the arrest to his superiors promptly and pleaded guilty receiving two years’ conditional discharge. Subsequently, on August 15, 2016, Sheriff Dart suspended Coduto without pay and sought his termination by filing charges with the Cook County Sheriff’s Merit Board.
Two years after administrative review completion, Coduto sued Sheriff Dart in circuit court seeking mandamus to compel an award of back pay for the period of unpaid suspension that exceeded 180 days. However, the circuit court dismissed the action stating that plaintiff's exclusive remedy was via Administrative Review Law and it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the mandamus complaint.
Coduto seeks judgment for back pay for the period of unpaid leave that exceeded 180 days. The Sheriff argued that court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction as Administrative Review Law was exclusive remedy along with argument that plaintiff was barred by laches.