EAST ST. LOUIS — A man is claiming that he was demoted from his position as Deputy Sheriff of the Washington County Police Department for allegedly reporting various violations.
Craig Campbell filed the lawsuit on March 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Washington County and Sheriff Len Campbell. The suit states that Craig Campbell and Len Campbell are not related.
Before filing his federal lawsuit, the plaintiff filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on July 23, 2020 (charge number 560-2020-02504). The charge was considered dual-filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights, which issued a notice of dismissal for lack of substantial evidence on March 14, 2022.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff was hired as a deputy in February 2015. In 2017, he was promoted by former Sheriff Danny Bradac to detective and then detective corporal.
Craig Campbell alleges that on Jan. 1, 2020, Sheriff Campbell and two deputies, Meyer and McDaniel, responded to a call in Irvington, Ill. Sheriff Campbell allegedly struck Meyer with his baton during the call. When describing the incident, Sheriff Campbell allegedly said he meant to strike the suspect but hit Meyer. Meyer prepared a report and provided it to Craig Campbell for review. It allegedly included no information about the baton. The plaintiff allegedly informed Chief Deputy Drew Bauer that he would not approve the report "because it was untrue."
The suit states that Bauer instructed the plaintiff to forward the report to State's Attorney Dan Bronke anyway, but Craig Campbell refused. A sergeant later approved the report and sent it to the state's attorney, the complaint alleges.
The plaintiff then allegedly told Bronke that he believed that the report was not accurate. He asked Sheriff Campbell for a supplementary report on the incident, but his request was allegedly ignored.
Craig Campbell claims he also reported an alleged sexual harassment incident where Sheriff Campbell allegedly offered a female lab technician a kiss before presenting a Hershey kiss. Additionally, Craig Campbell claims he reported a firearm violation when a new hire was allegedly carrying a firearm without a proper license.
The suit states that the plaintiff was later demoted to a patrolman on March 19, 2020.
"With the reassignment, Sheriff Campbell materially changed plaintiff's duties and conditions of employment, including: removal of plaintiff's participation with the FBI task force; change in work hours; requirement to bid on shifts; removal of evidence technician duties; the opportunity to testify and perform other duties when he suffered an injury in May 2020; removal of duties relating to community outreach and interaction with other law enforcement; loss of computer access and access to other equipment," the suit states.
The plaintiff seeks compensation for loss in pay and benefits. He also claims his rights under the 14th Amendment and the Illinois Whistleblower Act have been violated.
Craig Campbell is represented by Ferne P. Wolfe of Silverstein Wolfe Attorneys.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:22-cv-603