Village of Oak Lawn v. Faber

Plaintiff, the Village of Oak Lawn (Oak Lawn), brought a declaratory judgment action against defendant, Joseph Faber, its former longtime employee and village manager, alleging that prior to the date a newly elected village board of trustees was to take office, the outgoing village board voted to terminate Faber’s employment so that he could claim a severance package totaling nine months of his salary. Oak Lawn contended that the severance was improper in five respects: that it constituted a gift of public funds (count I), that it was contrary to statutory provisions requiring that a village…