Oak Park police officer Rasul Freelain’s new attorney told a judge Thursday that he intends to move forward with Freelain’s civil rights lawsuit against the village and Sergeant Dina Vardal.
“We want to proceed a bit further with the case,” attorney Robert Robertson told Federal Judge Manish Shah.
Vardal and the village were named in a federal lawsuit filed in May, 2013, alleging Vardal sexually accosted Freelain on numerous occasions, harassed him, and threatened and battered him after he reported her conduct to department superiors.
According to the lawsuit, that incident in May, 2012 was witnessed by other police officers.
The suit also accuses the village of both retaliation and inference with Freelain’s rights under the Family Medical Leave Act and discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In September Freelain’s attorneys withdrew from the case over what appears to be a disagreement with him over how to proceed.
That falling out scuttled a scheduled settlement conference.
Freelain recently retained the legal counsel of Robertson, a former Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney and adjunct professor at Northwestern University.
Judge Shah told Robertson and Vardal’s defense attorney Nikoleta Lamprinakos that he expected the discovery process to proceed well into next spring, but left open the possibility of a rescheduled settlement conference.
Robertson told Shah he expected to begin soon deposing witnesses, “at least 10,” adding, “It could be more.”
Lamprinakos indicated the village was still in preparations, saying, “We are at the very beginning of doing anything.”
The judge set an April 30 deadline for completion of discovery between the parties, and scheduled a status hearing on the case in March.
Shah also left open the possibility of a settlement conference sometime during discovery period, saying, “If in the course of discovery, you decide you want a settlement conference, contact the court.”
Speaking after the hearing, Robertson said that whether or not a settlement conference is eventually held, he was “committed to seeing justice done in this case.”
“We are committed to bringing this case to trial and to ensuring that we will uncover all the relevant facts, and all the people who are responsible for the conduct that’s been alleged in the complaint,” Robertson said.
“If, after we have unearthed all the relevant facts and all the responsible parties, if an opportunity to resolve the case short of trial presents itself, we will consider it at that time.”
Robertson said while he’s open to a settlement, it is not his first priority.
“I did not take this case with the idea of negotiating a quick settlement so that certain facts would not come to light,” he said.
