Civil Rights Litigation

We represent clients to protect their civil rights when they are the victims of unlawful discrimination in areas including:

Sexual Harassment
Employment Discrimination
Police Brutality/ Excessive Force

Representative Matters

Mearday v. City of Chicago

In 1997, Chicago was intensely focused on the highly publicized case of Jeremiah Mearday, who was beaten by police officers. With the firm’s defense, the jury acquitted Mearday of criminal charges of police battery and felony drug possession. The city later agreed to pay Mearday $1.75 million for post-traumatic stress disorder and other injuries related to police misconduct. The city dismissed two officers involved in the beating.

Fegan v. Reid

In Fegan v. Reid, Tobin & Muñoz obtained $1.55 million in the case of a transit supervisor falsely arrested, brutalized and injured by Chicago police officers after she explained she could not “fix” a parking ticket. Juries found all four officers guilty of conspiracy to violate our clients’ civil rights.

Bankole v. St. Joseph Hospital

The Bankole v. St. Joseph Hospital case involved a substantial award on behalf of an individual who claimed that he had been fired in retaliation for exercising his rights under the workers’ compensation claim provisions. It was one of the largest settlements for a retaliatory discharge under this statute.

Other Examples

The firm represented Debra and Albert White in a federal lawsuit against their former attorneys for failing to protect their claims against the U.S. government, Drug Enforcement Agency and members of the Chicago Police Department. Craig Tobin and Tomas Petkus represented the Whites and their case was settled and dismissed.

The firm obtained $4 million on behalf of a woman who suffered soft-tissue injuries at the hands of a Chicago police officer while she was marching in the gay pride parade