R. Scott Alsterda, acting as bankruptcy trustee for the estate of Jaime Mireles, has filed an appeal against Thomas J. Dart and The Cook County Sheriff's Merit Board in the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District. The case, identified as No. 1-22-1088, was heard on April 29, 2024.
The lawsuit stems from a complaint filed by Dart against Mireles in July 2014 when Mireles was employed as a correction officer by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department. Dart alleged that Mireles used excessive force on a detainee and failed to submit an incident report or present himself for an interview about the incident. In January 2015, following a hearing conducted by the Board in October 2014, Mireles' employment was terminated.
Alsterda's appeal is based on a June 2022 order dismissing his second amended complaint with prejudice. The dismissal followed an earlier circuit court decision affirming the Board's termination decision and a subsequent unsuccessful appeal by Mireles to this court.
The plaintiff seeks to have the court reverse its decision and rule in favor of Mireles based on their assertion that one or more members of the Board were not duly appointed at the time they rendered their January 2015 decision.
Justices Pucinski, Fitzgerald and Lavin all concur that Mireles's challenge to the composition of the Board that rendered his termination decision is barred by res judicata given his failure to raise it in the prior action and appeal. Also, the de facto officer doctrine operates to independently bar his untimely collateral attack on the Board's decision. The circuit courts judgment was affirmed.