Three officers and a sergeant fired for allegedly lying to cover up the fatal shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald by fellow Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke have filed lawsuits to get their jobs back.
The suits, filed separately last month in Cook County Circuit Court, seek to appeal their terminations.
Officers Janet Mondragon, Daphne Sebastian, Ricardo Viramontes and Sgt. Stephen Franko were fired in July after the police board voted in favor of the measure.
Hearings in each of the lawsuits, which name the Chicago Police Board and CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson as defendants, are set for different dates in December.
A spokesman for the city’s law department had no comment on the suits.
Attorneys for each officer and the sergeant either had no comment or did not immediately return calls.
“They were railroaded,” Fraternal Order of Police second-vice president Martin Preib said of the treatment of the four cops.
”They didn’t do anything wrong ... they’re all very good officers, very hard working.”
Though the four were dismissed for allegedly giving or approving statements they knew were false, none were criminally charged.
Their firings came 10 months after Van Dyke — who shot McDonald 16 times — was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery.
In January, Van Dyke was sentenced to 6 years and 9 months in prison.
