A former Flossmoor police officer fired after lying to supervisors about twice having sex while on duty with a young woman in his police vehicle did not prove that his dismissal was racially motivated, an appeals court ruled Monday.
Larry Hall, now 38, was fired in 2009 after an investigation that began when the college student's father complained to police. Their social relationship began while Hall was working one day a week as a liaison officer at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, where she was then a student, according to court records.
In 2007, not long after she graduated from high school and had turned 18, the two began a sexual relationship after exchanging phone numbers at a gas station, Hall testified at a deposition. The two saw each other on-and-off, mostly during her college vacations, for two years.
During an initial interview, Hall repeatedly denied having sex while on duty or while in a police vehicle, but he admitted it was true before the interview ended, records show.
Hall, who was and remains married, later testified that he twice had sex with the former student in a police SUV while on duty, including once outside Flossmoor Country Club. On that occasion, he got an emergency call and drove out of his way while responding to drop the former student off near her car, according to court records.
Investigators also found that Hall had sent inappropriate texts on a police instant-messaging system, including one calling Flossmoor residents "Flossmorons."
Hall had been disciplined for sleeping in his squad car while parked behind the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District building and for leaving his Taser unattended on a table inside the police station.
In 2011, Hall, who is African-American, filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the town alleging he was punished more severely than white officers. He pointed to two officers who drove 22 miles while they were the only officers on duty to move a generator from one officer's home into his garage.
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