'Tremendous Win': Harassed Ex-North Chicago Cop Gets $475,000 Payout

CHICAGO — North Chicago city officials have agreed to pay $475,000 to avoid facing a jury trial on allegations of harassment and discrimination against a former police officer.

Ramtin Sabet, an American citizen and practicing Muslim who immigrated from Iran in 1997, worked at the North Chicago Police Department from 2007 to 2017, according to court records.

Sabet alleged he faced persistent harassment on the basis of his Iranian national origin and his faith during the entirety of his time at the department.

According to his recently settled suit, fellow officers regularly called Sabet a "terrorist" and "ISIS leader" and asked him if he rode a goat to work.

Lawsuit Filed Before Firing

In April 2016, he filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which determined that there had been harassment at the department but he may not have been completely honest in his interview with investigators.

Then-chief Richard Wilson opened up an investigation into Sabet and placed him on paid administrative leave in November 2016, according to court records.

That same month, Sabet filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing the city and its officials of discrimination on the basis of his religion and national origin, violation of his constitutional rights and retaliation.

Sabet was fired in February 2017. The following month, his attorney from the Chicago chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR, filed a nine-count amended complaint on his behalf.

“They told me that I hold a gun like Muslim, like a terrorist Muslim,” Sabet said at the time, noting he had worked as a cop for more than 15 years.

“I got their back. I pulled them out of the fire, when they fell down and broke their wrist I put him back in my squad car and took him to the hospital, when they were shot in the shoulder … I helped them. And this is how they treat me?" he said. "I wonder how many Muslims in the country are going through this.”

According to the suit, none of the officers who harassed him were ever disciplined, either for their pervasive racist comments — like telling Sabet to "go f--- his goats," calling him a "falafel-head" and advocating for the use of nuclear weapons in Iran — nor for their use of city computers for personal business.

Sgt. Luis Rivera spent three years using department computers to take online undergraduate classes, Sgt. Corey Marquardt spent three months watching videos of home improvement techniques and female mixed martial arts fights and was caught asleep in his office and both Sgt. Ray Hartmann and Officer Corey Friel regularly used department computers to play fantasy football, the complaint alleged.

In February 2020, U.S. District Judge Robert Dow issued a ruling allowing the case to proceed while rejecting some of Sabet's claims.

Sabet Sued Over Dog's Death

While Sabet alleged that he was denied training and promotion because he is an Iranian Muslim, the judge noted that he admitted internal politics were to blame for his lack of training opportunities, and he failed to meet the minimum standard for promotion because he had not passed the sergeant's exam.

According to Sabet's suit, Lt. Richard Theis told him that he was not chosen to go to supervisor school because he was a "piss poor" officer and because the department had had to pay a "lot of money" to settle lawsuits filed against him.

Court records and City Council minutes show that North Chicago aldermen agreed in December 2013 to pay $5,000 to settle a lawsuit filed against Sabet and the city by Grayslake resident Shammara Evans.

Evans alleged that Sabet violated her civil rights and intentionally inflicted emotional distress on her when he showed up to execute a search warrant at a North Chicago home she was visiting shortly before midnight on July 8, 2011.

"[Sabet] entered the subject premises and immediately discharged a shotgun at [Evans'] dog," who was allegedly peacefully playing with the resident's dogs and not threatening the officer. "[Evans'] dog, Mama, was struck about her head and body and immediately killed."

Turmoil Within Police Department

Sabet's case against North Chicago was scheduled to head to trial last November, which led both parties to come to a settlement agreement instead, according to representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. They described it as one of the most significant religious and national origin discrimination cases in the history of Illinois federal courts.

Phil Robertson, the litigation director for the Chicago chapter of CAIR and Sabet's lead lawyer, characterized the settlement as a significant victory.

“This is a tremendous win for the community in the future," Robertson said in a statement following the settlement. "It shows that this type of bullying and harassment at work will not be permitted, condoned, or pushed quietly under the rug, regardless of your demographic."

Richard Wilson, the former North Chicago police chief, issued a statement in response to Sabet's suit asserting that the city values diversity.

"Officer Sabet was terminated for violations of police department rules and regulations," Wilson told the Chicago Tribune at the time. "He has challenged that determination. The city plans to vigorously defend its decision."

Wilson retired from the North Chicago Police Department in December 2017 and was succeeded by his deputy chief, Lazaro Perez.

In February 2022, Perez reportedly faced a vote of no confidence from a group of sergeants at the department, who alleged that he engaged in an adulterous relationship with the then-North Chicago Chief of Staff (removed), had nude photos of another city employee on his phone and drove a city-owned vehicle after drinking alcohol on duty.

Then in February 2023, another former North Chicago police chief, Michael Newsome, pleaded guilty to attempted misapplication of funds, a misdemeanor, in exchange for a $25 fine, 150 hours of public service and one year of conditional discharge.

Newsome, who was accused of stealing more than $200,000 from the department's asset forfeiture seizure fund, spent more than a decade out on bail before the Lake County State's Attorney's Office agreed to drop nearly all the charges and reduce the only one to which he admitted.

Sabet's lawsuit against North Chicago is not the first time he has gone to federal court to allege he faced discrimination for being Iranian.

Northwestern Lawsuit

According to a 2004 suit filed on his behalf, Sabet started his law enforcement career working for Northwestern University's private "police/security force."

During his one-year tenure working for the university, supervisors and Northwestern employees "ridiculed, harassed and tormented Mr. Sabet by calling him a terrorist, stating he was a terrorist spy living in America, making fun of him and other persons from Iran or the Middle East, belittling his performance by calling him a 'Guard Dog,' calling his native Farsi language a terrorist language, referring to baked goods which displayed Farsi language on the wrapper paper as 'terrorist cookies,' complaining that his employment violated the Patriot Act because he was born in Iran, reporting him as a suspected terrorist to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or the I.N.S., unfairly criticizing his performance, assigning him discriminatory work assignments, without cause or provocation accusing him or not liking or being able to deal with American women, joking about people from the Middle East including people from Iran, and many other discriminatory acts," the suit alleged.

Northwestern and Sabet reached an undisclosed settlement and the case was dismissed in September 2005, records show.

Ahead of the trial on his lawsuit against North Chicago, Sabet's lawyers sought to prevent city attorneys from bringing up his lawsuit against Northwestern for fear that it could be considered prejudicial.

In another pretrial decision, the judge ordered Sabet and his attorneys not to use the phrases "blue wall" or "code of silence" and were forbidden from introducing evidence that police officers typically cover up each others' misconduct.

North Chicago city staff did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment regarding the allegations and settlements, which generally do not include any admissions of wrongdoing.

In a statement announcing the nearly half-a-million-dollar settlement with North Chicago, Sabet thanked the local chapter of country's largest Muslim advocacy organization for its assistance in the case.

“This settlement represents not only a personal victory but a triumph for everyone who has faced discrimination at the workplace. It re-affirms that standing up against injustice can lead to positive change," Sabet said.

"I am grateful to CAIR-Chicago for standing with me through the hardships of all these years, and to the Almighty Allah for giving me the strength and courage to persevere even while facing constant harassment and injustice in North Chicago.”