Circuit Judge Vincent Lopinot granted the Fairview Heights Police Department’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit seeking $15 million for alleged sex discrimination during a traffic stop.
According to the lawsuit filed last August, Brian Ferguson claimed he was pulled over and issued a ticket for expired plates in March. Then, he alleged the same officer pulled over his friend while he was riding in a car with her in May, but did not issue her a ticket.
Ferguson alleged that because his friend was a woman who had friends in the police department and courthouse, she was not given a ticket.
Following the incident, Ferguson wrote letters to the courthouse, and was then harassed by police, he claimed.
Ferguson wrote three different letters to the courthouse, each complaining of the way he was treated by Fairview Heights police, the suit stated. In his second letter, Ferguson questioned why police are allegedly able to have sex and drink while on duty and why military personnel can supposedly have sex with minors and still get away with it. He also questioned the expectations of females versus males.
“Mothers still can do whatever they want to,” Ferguson wrote in his complaint. “They still can get away with kidnapping while fathers still suffer. Fathers are ordered to pay back child support. Why can’t mothers be ordered to pay back visitation?”
Ferguson also expressed frustration for not receiving a reply to his letters.
“I’m wondering why my letters haven’t been investigated and why I’m being taken as a joke,” he wrote.
The police department filed a motion to dismiss on Oct. 9, arguing that the plaintiff failed to allege facts “sufficient to bring his claim within the scope of any legally recognized cause of action.”
“While plaintiff does complain about various topics and perceived wrongs, these matters do not constitute any recognizable action under Illinois law. Even if plaintiff’s allegations do fall under the umbrella of some recognizable action, plaintiff has not pled facts sufficient to show he is entitled to any recovery,” the motion stated.
The various topics Ferguson complains about included “mothers of children in Illinois failing to comply with visitation orders, military and government personnel receiving special treatment and children taking drugs.”
Lopinot granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss on Feb. 11 and gave Ferguson until March 13 to file an amended complaint.
Ferguson seeks $15 million and is appearing pro se.
Brian M. Funk of O’Halloran Kosoff Geitner & Cook, LLC in Northbrook represents the defendant.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 14-L-612