The former director of the Schaumburg Police Department says he was fired so that the village could save on health insurance costs related to his cancer diagnosis.
Richard Casler, who became civilian head of the police force after his retirement as chief in 2001, said he was given no explanation when he was fired Friday by Village Manager Ken Fritz.
Casler said that after racking his brain, he's convinced the village learned through insurance bills of his expensive treatments for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He was diagnosed in summer 2007.
Both Fritz and Mayor Al Larson said they didn't know of Casler's medical condition until it was mentioned by Casler's attorney on Friday.
Fritz said he gave Casler reasons for his firing in what he acknowledged was a brief conversation. He refused to reveal those reasons.
