City Council approved a $101,232 settlement Monday to end a State of Illinois human rights lawsuit for alleged age discrimination against a former employee.

The suit stems from a complaint by Evanston Police Department’s former Assistant Communications Coordinator Curt Kuempel. He first joined EPD as a police officer in 1974 and served as a police commander from 2001 to 2006.

Kuempel and many other city employees were laid off in April 2020 as the city made budget cuts at the start of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Kuempel’s last day as a city employee was April 9, 2020, at which time he was 70 years old. 

He filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights in September 2020, alleging the layoff was due to age discrimination.

City staffers became aware that the state intended to file a lawsuit against the city on Kuempel’s behalf in July. This inspired the city’s legal department to begin negotiating an out-of-court settlement, according to a memo by Corporation Counsel Nicholas Cummings.

The settlement was presented publicly before City Council on Monday under a stipulation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. It passed unanimously on the consent agenda, with no further discussion from councilmembers.

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Twitter: @alexhairysun

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Twitter: @ilana_arougheti

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