Moonlighting By Disabled Police Officer Not Dishonest

The Illinois Review Board finds that no misconduct was proven and recommends that ethics charges be dismissed in a matter involving an attorney already suspended in an unrelated matter.

This matter arises out of the Administrator’s one-count complaint charging Respondent with engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation in violation of Rule 8.4(c) of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct (2010).

Respondent, a Cook County Sheriff’s Office police officer, suffered an injury while on duty. He filed a workers’ compensation claim and eventually collected temporary total disability benefits for a period of over two years. While on disability, Respondent continued to work and receive income from two other jobs, as a private-practice attorney and as a McHenry County commissioner. For most of the time at issue, he did not have approval to work these two other jobs, as required by workplace rules. He was eventually terminated from the sheriff’s department for working secondary employment without approval and while receiving disability benefits.

Based on this conduct, the Administrator filed its complaint against Respondent. Following a hearing, the Hearing Board found that Respondent had engaged in dishonest conduct by intentionally failing to obtain approval for his secondary employment while on disability so that he could continue to collect full disability payments while also earning other income. It recommended that Respondent be suspended from law practice for one year.

Both parties appealed. On appeal, the Respondent challenged the Hearing Board’s finding that he had engaged in dishonest conduct and asking that the proceedings against him be dismissed. The Administrator agreed with the one-year suspension but asked the Review Board to specify that it should begin at the conclusion of a suspension of three years and until further order that Respondent was currently serving based on a prior disciplinary proceeding.

The Review Board reversed the Hearing Board’s finding of misconduct, finding that the Administrator failed to prove that Respondent had engaged in dishonest conduct because he did not show by clear and convincing evidence that Respondent knew his disability benefits would or could be reduced by his secondary employment, or that his benefits, in fact, could have been reduced by his secondary employment. It thus recommended that the case be dismissed.

(Mike Frisch)