Judge tosses ex-IPRA investigator's lawsuit

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday brought by a former top investigator for the agency that reviews Chicago Police shootings who claimed he was fired for not siding with officers.

U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras found Lorenzo Davis’ written reports and findings, as well as his verbal refusals to change them, were not protected by the First Amendment. That’s because Davis was acting as an employee of the Independent Police Review Authority.

The judge also ruled that former IPRA head Scott Ando did not defame Davis when he publicly denied Davis’ claims. He wrote that Davis offered no factual allegation that he was denied future employment by Ando’s comments, and he wrote that the claims in Davis’ lawsuit “strain the rights” provided by the U.S. Constitution.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel replaced Ando with Sharon Fairley in December.

Davis’ lawyer, Torreya Hamilton, has said Davis’ firing was prompted by the police shooting death of Cedrick Chatman, a black 17-year-old confronted by officers after he allegedly stole a car in January 2013. Davis told the Chicago Sun-Times he believed Chatman’s death was a “murder.”