Caseyville Police Chief Jose Alvarez is once again an employee of Caseyville.

Caseyville Police Chief Jose Alvarez addresses the Village Board on March 19, 2014 / Photo by Roger Starkey

Thursday, Judge Stephen McGlynn again invalidated the Village Board’s vote on May 21 to fire Alvarez. McGlynn had ruled on Oct. 3 that Alvarez was entitled to a hearing before a vote to terminate him and that what took place at a Village Board meeting on May 21 did not constitute a fair hearing.

Representing the Village of Caseyville was attorney Brian Manion, of the Weilmuenster Law Group, P.C. Manion filed a motion Oct. 31 asking the judge to reconsider, vacate or clarify his Oct. 3 order.

When McGlynn upheld his Oct. 3 decision, he indicated that Alvarez was still an employee of Caseyville, still had rights under his contract and should be receiving health care benefits. The Village Board voted on April 28 to place Alvarez on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of two misdemeanor charges filed against him (See previous story). That case is set for a bench trial on Nov. 26.

When informed that Alvarez’s was on paid administrative leave before his May 21 termination, McGlynn indicated that he was to be reinstated to the same status. That outcome was an argument Manion used in court only minutes earlier, telling the judge that an invalidated vote would have “huge financial consequences for the village.”

Alvarez is now owed his salary dating back to May 21, as well as the difference between the amount he has been paying for his benefits through COBRA and the amount he would have paid if still a Caseyville employee, said Bob  Jones, Alvarez’s attorney.

The Village has also been contesting Alvarez’s request for unemployment benefits, Jones said in court Monday during a hearing that was delayed until Thursday. The paperwork Village Hall employees needed to complete after Alvarez requested unemployment benefits had to be requested again by Trustee Brenda Williams, who asked during a recent Village Board meeting if she could personally deliver the paperwork to ensure it was not lost, as the first set of paperwork had been sometime after it was mailed from the unemployment office. A Village Hall employee told Williams the paperwork had never arrived, Williams said in the meeting.

Although McGlynn again ordered the Village Board to provide Alvarez a hearing and to vote again on his termination, McGlynn said he lacked the power to force the hearing and vote to take place within a specified timeframe. Jones had asked the Board be compelled to vote within seven days.

After the decision, Jones said he was ecstatic that the court had found that what happened on May 21 was not in accordance with the promises made by the Village. He believes his client will be reinstated when a vote finally take place.

“I’m confident Jose will convince them that he is the right person to lead the police department,” Jones said.