Case #98CH2312: Gmitruk v. Archbishop Francis George
Northwest-sider Tadeusz Gmitruk accuses newly elevated Cardinal Francis George of shirking his diplomatic responsibilities. Gmitruk was disappointed when George went to Rome last month to receive his new title while Cardinal Jozef Glemp of Warsaw was visiting Chicago. The suit says that George’s absence “make damage [to] all Catholic Church, Polish Catholic Church, Holy Father, Poland, United States, each Catholic and Polish Catholic.” Furthermore, Gmitruk said George “must learn and tell sorry to me and pay for my broken spirit.”
Damages sought: $100,000
Case #98CH2702: Gmitruk v. Spagnolo
Gmitruk also blames Joseph Spagnolo, the Illinois superintendent of education, for history curriculum that is allegedly discriminatory and “against small children, against American people.” Gmitruk is ticked because the history books he’s seen have left out Polish freedom fighter and Revolutionary War engineer Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Gmitruk says the situation damages “my heart, my brain, my nerves.”
Damages sought: $25,000
Case #98L542: Brackett v. Baja Beach Club
Robert Brackett Jr. fell off one of Baja’s dance-floor platforms in January 1996. He filed suit this past January, claiming he suffered “a post traumatic concussion, a severely dislocated left middle finger and a complete loss of both smell and taste.” He also complains that the club “failed to post a warning sign in an area known to have individuals mounting the raised elevations.”
Damages sought: $30,000+
Case #97L14625: Byers v. City of Evanston
Adult sledder Marvin Byers Jr. was enjoying a run down a hill at the Robert E. James Park last January when an uneven section “caus[ed] his sleigh to go out of control,” throwing him into a parked car. Byers claims he’s suffered “great physical pain and mental anguish” and blames the city because it “failed to warn [him] of the dangerous condition of the hill.”
Damages sought: $60,000+