Airport screeners’ chief still faces civil lawsuit

Dereck Starks, the new director of Spokane’s federal airport screeners, was sued in 2003 by a former colleague who claims Starks trumped up evidence in order to get him fired.

That lawsuit is still active, although attorneys for Starks and a co-defendant in the Chicago civil lawsuit have twice argued successfully that the case against them is legally groundless.

The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Starks, who worked as an internal affairs officer for the Chicago Police Department, joined the Transportation Security Administration — which performs airport screening and security — in 2003.

He previously was assistant security director for screening at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

Last week, the TSA named Starks director in charge of about 145 federal TSA employees in Spokane. He replaces former security director David Kuper, who resigned.

In an e-mail, Starks said he’s not allowed to comment on the lawsuit while it’s still active. He referred further questions to his attorney in Chicago.

Joseph Sparks, who filed the lawsuit, alleged that Starks and another internal affairs officer, Thomas Tranckitello, conspired by fabricating evidence and withholding statements of other officers in an effort to get Sparks fired from his job as a gang unit detective.

Attorneys Jeffrey J. Steffen and Pat Geiger filed documents claiming that Starks falsely accused Sparks of allowing an undercover informant to deal drugs. When another police officer sent a letter to Starks denying the sale occurred, Starks never included that letter in materials he forwarded to prosecutors, according to Geiger.

Starks’ attorney, Pat Cuisinier, also of Chicago, was not available for comment. But court documents filed on behalf of Starks and Tranckitello deny they conspired to get Sparks fired.

After the internal affairs report was given to prosecutors, Sparks faced a judicial hearing over his performance. But during that hearing, in 2002, prosecutors realized the case against him was weak and dismissed it, according to reports in the Chicago Sun-Times. Sparks, who worked as a Chicago policeman for 33 years, returned to a different job on the police force, then quit in 2003.

Since Sparks’ suit was filed in late 2003, attorneys for Starks and Tranckitello have won motions challenging those initial legal claims. Steffen said the suit’s basic claim relied on malicious prosecution, and two times a judge has agreed that Sparks’ attorneys haven’t provided the legal basis for that action.

In December Steffen and Geiger changed the lawsuit and now argue the basic claim is “willful and wanton conduct” on the part of Starks and Tranckitello. A hearing on the most recent motion will be heard this month, said Steffen.