Scion of politician sues over firing
John Cantrell alleges he is victim of political retribution, racial bias
NWI Times
Sep 1, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/scion-of-politician-sues-over-firing/article_1388c2cb-f4aa-5688-83a7-81babb9d4b30.html
EAST CHICAGO -- A son of East Chicago politician Robert Cantrell is suing the City Court over allegations he is a victim of political and racial retribution.
John Cantrell alleges City Judge Sonya A. Morris fired him Jan. 31 from his job as a public defender in the court because he supported her unsuccessful opponent in last year's Democratic municipal primary election, attorney Corinth Bishop II.
Neither Morris nor John Cantrell could be reached Tuesday for comment on the suit now pending in U.S. District Court in Hammond.
David S. Gladish, a Highland lawyer representing Cantrell, said Tuesday, "You can't fire someone for politics who is not in a policy-making position. She should know better, and we are calling her on it."
Former City Judge Edwardo Fontanez hired John Cantrell last year to represent low-income defendants who cannot afford to hire private defense lawyers.
Fontanez, who now works in the same law office as John Cantrell, didn't run for election last year.
John Cantrell alleges he openly supported Corinth Bishop for city judge in the 2003 primary against Morris, who won with 5,681 votes to Bishop's 3,042.
Gladish said Morris took office Jan. 1 this year and sent John Cantrell home on the first working day of the year in court with instructions to return the following week. He said she did the same thing twice more before firing him, without ever having performed an evaluation of his job performance.
Gladish said John Cantrell is a successful private attorney who conducted himself "within the highest standard of professionalism and integrity," so the firing has damaged Cantrell's reputation.
Gladish said the firing is reminiscent of former East Chicago City Judge Lonnie Randolph firing former City Court public defender Tula Kavadias in 2001. A federal court jury last month awarded Kavadias $4.5 million in damages for that job action.
John Cantrell's father, Robert, is a former East Chicago Republican chairman who the GOP removed in 2003 because the party said he is a political adviser to many leading Democratic figures here and throughout the county.
John Cantrell alleges his firing also was the product of racial discrimination because he is white and Morris is black.
No comments:
Post a Comment