Chicago Public Defender’s Claim Over Displaying Photo with Israeli Flag and Gun Can Go Forward
From today’s decision by Judge Joan Lefkow (N.D. Ill.) in Gassman v. Cook County; as usual on a motion to dismiss, the factual recitation consists of the allegations from plaintiff’s Complaint (not any factual findings by a judge or jury):
Debra Gassman is an Assistant Public Defender for the Public Defender of Cook County, Illinois. She has been employed as a lawyer by the Public Defender since 1997 …. Gassman is Jewish and “devoted to Israel.”
In 2002, Gassman volunteered for the Israel Defense Forces (“IDF”). In December of 2002, during her volunteer stint, Gassman took a photograph of herself holding a gun in front of an Israeli flag (“the photo”). The photo was taken in Tel HaShomer, an army base near Tel Aviv. The photo is approximately 11 inches tall. It is reproduced below:
When Gassman returned from Israel in 2002, she prominently displayed the photo in her shared office at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago. The photo reminds Gassman of her time spent defending Israel and the Jewish people. To Gassman, the photo signals that the Jewish people must “stay strong” when threatened by other nations. The photo remained there, undisturbed, until she transferred to the Public Defender’s office in Skokie, Illinois, in October 2020. In Skokie, Gassman again displayed the photo in her shared office “without incident.”
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and attacked civilians. Gassman was “devastated, shocked, and scared by the October 7 attacks.” She returned to work on October 10th. Upon returning, Gassman felt upset that “few seemed to care—or even were aware of”—the attack on Israel. “[T]o bring attention to the attacks that had occurred in Israel and the need to support the victims,” Gassman brought the photo out of her office and placed it on top of the employee mailboxes for her coworkers to see. Gassman positioned the photo so that it faced the back of the office toward the staff; it was not visible to the public. Public Defender employees regularly display items such as holiday decorations, photographs, art, and cards in the same area.
When executive management (Cook County Deputy Public Defender Parle Roe-Taylor and Rodney Carr) learned of the photo, they instructed the Public Defender “Chief” to remove it. Carr and Roe-Taylor told Gassman’s supervisors that the photo was “comparable to a Nazi swastika.” Gassman removed the photo and returned it to her private office, where she continued to display it. The photo was “not visible to members of the public.”
On October 20, 2023, Mitchell issued a written reprimand to Gassman
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