IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS 

EASTERN DIVISION

Warren Pendleton and Donnell 

Todd, as brothers and next best 

friends of Jeffrey Pendleton, 

)

)

)

)

Plaintiffs, )

)

-vs- ) No. 20-cv-

)

Thomas Dart, Sheriff of Cook 

County, and Cook County, Illinois,

)

)

)

)

)

Defendants. )

COMPLAINT

Plaintiffs Warren Pendleton and Donnell Todd, by counsel, allege as 

follows: 

1. This is a civil action arising under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The jurisdiction of this Court is conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 1343.

2. Jeffrey Pendleton, deceased, is a former detainee at the Cook 

County Jail. He is survived by his brothers Warren Pendleton and Donnell 

Todd. They sue for claims arising prior to Pendleton’s death while hospitalized in the custody of the Cook County Sheriff at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital for COVID-19. Plaintiffs, once the Circuit Court of Cook County 

reopens for normal business, will seek to be appointed Independent Administrators of the estate of Jeffrey Pendleton. 

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3. Defendant Thomas Dart is the Sheriff of Cook County. Plaintiffs sue Dart in his official and individual capacity. 

4. Defendant Cook County shares responsibility with defendant 

Dart for caring for detainees hospitalized at Stroger and is joined in this action pursuant to Carver v. Sheriff of LaSalle County, 324 F.3d 947 (7th Cir. 

2003).

5. On March 30, 2020, Pendleton, while in the Sheriff’s custody, 

was transferred to Stroger Hospital to be treated for COVID-19. 

6. Whenever an inmate is hospitalized outside the Jail, Dart’s 

policy requires the inmate to be shackled, hand and foot, to the bed despite the 24-hour presence of an armed guard. This policy, which has been 

disseminated to inmates, is below: 

Exhibit 1, Grievance at 2-3.

7. Sheriff Dart has personal knowledge seriously ill inmates at all 

outlying hospitals are shackled by hand and foot to the hospital bed pursuant to his official policy. In 2016, Dart defended the application of this policy applied to a quadriplegic in Hernandez v. Dart, 814 F.3d 836 (7th Cir. 

2016). 

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8. Dart applied his restraint policy to Pendleton while dying from 

COVID-19. Pendleton passed away after a six day battle with COVID-19 at

Stroger Hospital.

9. The Sheriff’s Office has been on notice since at least 2000 

that the shackling, by hand and foot, of seriously ill inmates to beds at outlying hospitals may violate the Fourteenth Amendment. See May v. 

Sheahan, 226 F.3d 876 (7th Cir. 2000). 

10. Dart’s shackling policy, applied to Pendleton, was excessive, 

caused gratuitous pain, and violated his rights under the Fourteenth 

Amendment to the United States Constitution. 

11. As of April 8, 2020, 22 COVID-19 inmates are hospitalized 

outside the Jail. Based on data published by the Sheriff shown below, the 

number of hospitalized inmates, unfortunately, will increase: 

12. There is no adequate remedy at law for Dart’s restraint of 

COVID-19 patients at outlying hospitals. 

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13. Plaintiffs bring this action pursuant to Rule 23(b)(2) of the 

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to obtain prospective relief for all inmates 

hospitalized outside the Jail with COVID-19 subject to Dart’s shacking policy. 

14. Plaintiffs also seek damages individually and for all others 

similarly situated and request that the Court allow this case to proceed as 

a class action pursuant to Rule 23(b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for inmates hospitalized outside the Jail for COVID-19 subject to

Dart’s shackling policy. 

It is therefore respectfully requested that the Court grant appropriate

injunctive relief for a class of COVID-19 inmates hospitalized outside the

Jail in accordance with Dart’s shackling policy, that appropriate damages 

be awarded to plaintiffs and each member of the proposed class, and that 

the Court also grant whatsoever other relief as may be appropriate, including an award of attorney’s fees and costs. 

/s/ Patrick W. Morrissey

ARDC No. 6309730

Thomas G. Morrissey 

Thomas G. Morrissey, Ltd. 

10150 S Western Ave. Ste. Rear

Chicago, IL. 60643

(773) 233-7900

patrickmorrissey1920@gmail.com

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