A federal judge has canned a lawsuit brought by a group of Black and Latino former campaign workers for Gov. JB Pritzker, who had accused Pritzker’s campaign organization of racial discrimination and accused Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton of defaming them by making public a letter requesting $7.5 million to forestall the legal action.
On Aug. 18, U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall granted summary judgment to both the JB Pritzker for Governor campaign organization, and to Stratton, on all claims.
In the decision, Judge Kendall determined the plaintiffs fell far short of demonstrating the Pritzker campaign organization had either created a work environment hostile to Black workers, or had discriminated against them by packing Black workers into less advantageous spots in the organization, with fewer opportunities for advancement.
Shay T. Allen
| attorneyshaytallen.com
“Based on the totality of the uncontested evidence, no jury could reasonably conclude Plaintiffs suffered any material adverse employment action based on race,” Kendall wrote in her opinion.
Further, Kendall said the plaintiffs also fell short of backing their claims that Stratton defamed them.
“Nothing in Stratton’s … statement bears on any Plaintiffs’ performance, conduct, or abilities in carrying out their duties for the Campaign,” Kendall wrote. “Instead, the statement is entirely focused on their off-the-job conduct related to the present lawsuit.
“While sometimes integrity is so fundamental to a profession that an attack on personal character constitutes defamation per se, Plaintiffs’ suggestion that politics is among this narrow category of callings defies conventional wisdom.”
The ruling comes nearly three years since the 12 former Pritzker campaign workers brought their lawsuit.
In that complaint, the campaign workers – all veterans of prior Democratic campaigns or of other progressive political organizations – had accused the Pritzker campaign of packing Black and Latino campaign workers into field offices in majority minority communities, at times with little regard for their safety.
The lawsuit further accused the campaign of denying those workers the same benefits and advancement opportunities afforded to white colleagues; of creating hostile work environments, particularly toward Black workers; and ignoring complaints of racial inequality within the organization and of terminating those who challenged the alleged inequities.
The lawsuit was later expanded to include a count of defamation against Stratton. The plaintiffs accused Stratton of allegedly labeling them “extortionists” in comments to news reporters about the lawsuit.
Those accusations centered on a comment made by Stratton in October 2018, with just weeks to go before Election Day in November 2018.
In those comments, Stratton said: “When people feel like they have been harassed or discriminated against, they have the right to come forward and have their voices heard. In this case, we had a letter delivered to us asking for $7.5 million dollars in 24 hours or they threatened legal action and to go to press. That’s not a good faith effort.
“The incidents listed in this complaint are baseless and make offensive claims in regard to several members of our staff. We stand by our staff and that’s why we are not afraid to litigate this to the fullest extent of the law.”
Pritzker had been named as a defendant in the lawsuit initially, but was dismissed.
A judge also denied the plaintiffs the opportunity to question the governor under oath over whether then-candidate Pritzker had ever been informed of concerns that his organization had discriminated against Black and Latino workers.
After years of often contentious litigation, in which Pritzker campaign attorneys often criticized the plaintiffs’ lawyers for “obstructionist” litigation tactics, Judge Kendall said the facts and evidence provided by the plaintiffs fell short of the standard required to move their claims toward trial.
Judge Kendall earlier this year sanctioned the plaintiffs’ lawyers, attorneys Shay Allen and Jeanette Samuels, of Chicago, for allegedly failing to cooperate fully with the Pritzker campaign’s lawyer in the discovery phase of the proceedings.
In the Aug. 18 ruling, Kendall further chided the plaintiffs’ lawyers for a litany of what she called violations of court procedures and rules.
But she also granted judgment to the Pritzker and Stratton camps on the merits of the case, as well.
Among other claims, Kendall said the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate a pattern of racial discrimination or racial animus in:
- Worker training sessions, in which a video was shown featuring an actor in a gorilla suit, and in which “racially toxic language” was used, allegedly “in the context of a training exercise;
- Staff conference calls in which Black and Latino workers were allegedly told “not to say anything stupid” and supervisors allegedly shouted at them and used profanity;
- Alleged “micromanagement” of Black and Latino workers, including close scrutiny of their job performances;
- Campaign events, including marching in parades, in which workers were chosen by race, to appeal to certain community demographics;
- And selecting workers for certain neighborhood campaign field offices, allegedly based on race, among other allegations.
She noted federal law was not written to protect workers from “poor supervisors,” “isolated, one-off events,” or from training sessions, designed to show workers “what not to say in the workplace in an effort to promote cultural diversity and acceptance.”
The judge further noted several of the plaintiffs suffered from “documented performance issues” in the workplace.
One of the plaintiffs, for instance, allegedly “was placed on administrative leave after he managed to predict a family emergency requiring time off almost two full weeks in advance.”
Kendall also rejected the claims against Stratton, saying “no reasonable jury could find that Stratton defamed any Plaintiff” in her October 2018 statements.
“She was responding in a public statement to the allegations made against the Campaign by denying them,” Kendall wrote.
Pritzker’s campaign has been represented by attorney William B. Safford, of the firm of Perkins Coie, of Seattle.