Coleman v. Frierson

Samuel Coleman (plaintiff), a special investigator for the Village of Robbins, was fired as part of a cover-up after investigating alleged mayoral corruption; he sued the Village, its police chief, and its mayor (defendants) for Fourteenth Amendment violations. After the defendants' willful discovery delinquency led the court to enter a default judgment on liability, a jury awarded Coleman over half a million dollars, and the defendants only then sought to raise challenges to the validity and sufficiency of his claim.