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Coleman v. O'GRADY
Citations: 803 F. Supp. 226; 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15400; 1992 WL 275785Docket: 91 C 2517
Court: District Court, N.D. Illinois; October 6, 1992; Federal District Court
Defendants, including former Cook County Sheriff James E. O'Grady and Jerome T. Casserly, moved to dismiss plaintiff Jerry Coleman's lawsuit alleging wrongful termination under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Coleman, a deputy sheriff since 1978, was arrested on May 17, 1986, for assault, resulting in a twenty-nine-day suspension following an investigation. Despite being found not guilty, he was terminated on April 21, 1987. Coleman initially sought administrative review from the Cook County Sheriff's Merit Board, which dismissed his complaint, leading to a subsequent state court action claiming wrongful termination without a hearing and due process violations. However, his claim was barred by laches due to failure to file within six months of termination, a decision upheld by the Illinois Appellate Court and the Illinois Supreme Court. Coleman filed his federal lawsuit on May 9, 1991, but defendants argued the claim was time-barred by Illinois' two-year statute of limitations for personal injury torts. Coleman contended that the statute was tolled while he exhausted his state remedies. The court acknowledged that factual allegations in the complaint are accepted as true for a motion to dismiss and that the complaint does not need to specify the correct legal theory or statute. However, despite these considerations, the court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss, concluding that the claim was indeed barred by the statute of limitations. Pro se complaints are to be interpreted liberally, and can only be dismissed if it is clear that no set of facts would allow the plaintiff to obtain relief. Coleman, who was terminated in April 1987, filed a pro se action alleging civil rights violations under § 1983 on May 9, 1991. The statute of limitations for such claims in Illinois is two years, meaning Coleman's claim was time-barred as it was filed after the deadline. Coleman argued that the requirement to exhaust state remedies before filing a § 1983 claim should toll the statute of limitations. However, this argument was rejected based on the Supreme Court's ruling in Patsy v. Board of Regents, which determined that exhaustion of state remedies is not a prerequisite for filing a § 1983 claim in federal court. Further, Coleman did not identify any state rule that would toll the statute or provide evidence for equitable tolling or estoppel, which are only applicable in specific circumstances. Consequently, the court concluded that Coleman's claim should have been filed by April 21, 1989, and granted the defendants' motion to dismiss.