Supervisor Dart Not Liable for Subordinate’s Actions Without Personal Involvement, Court Rules

CHICAGO (LN) — U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger dismissed former Cook County correctional officer Michael Moore’s First Amendment retaliation claim against Sheriff Thomas Dart on Sunday, ruling that the complaint failed to allege the Sheriff’s personal involvement in Moore’s termination.

Moore, a former correctional officer, sued Dart in his individual capacity, alleging the Sheriff punished him for speaking out against a proposed plea deal trial of Cook County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Cuauhtemoc Estrada.

The complaint relied on the signature block of the disciplinary charges filed by the Sheriff’s Office, which listed Dart as the signatory. However, the document also contained handwritten text stating the charges were signed “by Nicholas Scouffas General Counsel” on behalf of the Sheriff’s Office.

Seeger rejected Moore’s argument that Dart’s name on the document established personal involvement. The judge noted that the presence of the Sheriff’s name on official filings does not mean he personally played a role in every decision.

“A signature is not a sufficient basis to infer personal involvement, especially when someone signs on behalf of someone else,” Seeger wrote. “Run-of-the-mill filings in the federal courthouse illustrate the point. The name of the U.S. Attorney routinely appears atop signature blocks by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but no one thinks that the U.S. Attorney himself worked on every case or played a role in every decision.”

The court held that the complaint offered no facts suggesting Dart directed General Counsel Nicholas Scouffas to sign the charges, knew about them, or had any clue who Moore was.

“Liability for supervisors is individual, not vicarious,” Seeger wrote, citing Seventh Circuit precedent. “For that reason, simply being atop an organizational food chain does not make a supervisor liable for a subordinate’s unconstitutional conduct.”

The dismissal of the federal claim led Seeger to decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Moore’s remaining state-law claims against the Merit Board and Cook County. The court denied the Merit Board’s motion to dismiss as moot and dismissed the state claims without prejudice.

Moore’s termination followed an investigation into his conduct during Estrada’s murder trial, where he had falsely portrayed himself as the slain officer’s “partner” to gain special access to the family and proceedings.