North Cook News

Winning her Senate race has become all the more challenging for U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) now that an Illinois judge has rejected a motion to dismiss a whistleblower workplace retaliation lawsuit against the lawmaker.

During a summary judgment hearing on May 12, Union County Judge David Boie ruled that a 7-year–old ethics violations complaint against Duckworth would in fact head to trial. The allegations were made during Duckworth’s tenure as director of the Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs – a position appointed by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Duckworth was not present during the hearing.

The case is set to go to trial on August 15.

"Tammy Duckworth was mired by scandal and mismanagement while serving as Gov. Rod Blagojevich's director of Veterans' Affairs, including allegations of veteran abuse that occurred under her watch,” Nick Klitzing, executive director of the Illinois Republican Party, told North Cook News. “After years of contradictory excuses and political equivocating, Duckworth will now have to answer for those charges under oath as her trial begins on August 15. In the wake of corruption under disgraced Gov. Blagojevich, the last thing Illinois voters can afford is Tammy Duckworth in the Senate."

Currently representing Illinois’ 8th congressional district in Congress , Duckworth hopes to defeat Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk in November.

Two plaintiffs claimed in the complaint that they experienced harassment and received poor evaluations as employees at Anna Veterans Home in Illinois after filing a complaint against the facility’s acting director Patricia Simms, also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

One of the plaintiffs, Christine Butler, alleges that Simms informed other employees at the facility that she was going to put Butler “in her place” and expressed that she wanted Butler “gone,” according to the Chicago-Sun Times.

“Butler also contended that Simms allowed nonresidents inside the home to pass out campaign literature and provide care for residents without being properly screened,” the paper stated.

Butler was in charge of the budget at the facility.

The second plaintiff, Denise Goins, a human resources secretary, claims Simms reassigned some of her duties improperly “and forbade her from reporting problems to officials in Springfield.” Goins also claims that Duckworth signed off on an employee review that listed Goins’ work performance as “unacceptable.”

According to the complaint, Duckworth traveled to Anna Veterans Home in May 2007 to settle the dispute between Simms, Goins and Butler, but instead, allegedly fired Butler on the spot for insubordination “without legitimate cause of justification.”

A few days later, Duckworth rescinded the termination and placed Butler on administrative leave, Butler contends.

In an internal email dated May 4, Duckworth backtracked her decision to fire Butler.

“I need documentation from you, in a clear, user-friendly format to justify my decision to fire her," Duckworth wrote. "I screwed up in firing her since she actually is to be put on disciplinary leave first. Our next step with CMS is to explain why we need to terminate her employment."

The Chicago Daily Herald reported that at a news conference in 2012, Duckworth described the lawsuit as one that is “common to a head of any agency.”

Duckworth is being represented by the Illinois Attorney General’s office.