A former administrator at Morton College in Cicero has filed suit against the college and its president, among others, claiming he was improperly fired after he complained about the allegedly improper way the college hired its athletic director and other alleged misconduct he claims was committed by the leadership at the suburban community college.
Frank Marzullo, who is identified in the complaint as Morton College’s former vice president of Administrative Services and Inspector General, filed the complaint on Sept. 21 in Chicago federal court.
The complaint names the college as a defendant, along with Morton President Stanley Fields; Anthony Martinucci, a member of the college’s board of trustees; and Joseph Florio, Morton’s Director of Campus Facilities and Operations.
In his complaint, Marzullo accuses the college and the defendant administrators of a number of alleged misdeeds.
According to the complaint, Marzullo first began to clash with Fields and other administrators in early 2019, when he was “directed to cease and terminate” internal investigations into alleged misuse of college credit cards for personal expenses by Morton College employees, including “employees (who) worked closely with Defendant Stanley Fields as they worked in his office.”
In 2020, he was ignored when he questioned why Florio was given a $20,000 annual raise “during a pandemic,” and why college administration purchased Florio a vehicle using college funds and paid Florio’s gas expenses, allegedly without any formal approval from the board of trustees. According to the complaint, Marzullo allegedly learned Florio was allegedly performing home improvements at properties owned by Fields and Martinucci elsewhere in the suburbs, allegedly on college time.
According to the complaint, Fields allegedly told Marzullo “he was the president of the college and he can make any decision he wanted, and it was not anything to which (Marzullo) should be concerned with.”
Further, in 2020, Marzullo allegedly clashed with Fields and administration over the decision to hire a new women’s basketball coach. According to the complaint, that new hire, identified only as J.N., should have been ineligible, after Marzullo discovered the would-be coach had been convicted of a felony.
However, the college allegedly opted to simply give J.N. a $5,000 per month contract to serve as a “consultant to the college athletic department,” while allowing him to functionally serve as the new women’s basketball coach. According to the complaint, the prior women’s basketball coach at Morton earned $9,000 for the entire season.
Further, Marzullo alleged J.N. was hired to help Martinucci’s daughter work obtain a basketball scholarship at a four-year school.
In late 2020, the complaint said, Fields and Martinucci allegedly moved to make J.N. the college’s new athletic director. In his complaint, Marzullo asserted he opposed that hire, as well, asserting “J.N. was not eligible not only because of his felony conviction, but also because he lacked the required college degrees for the position.”
After allegedly arguing with Fields and Martinucci over the hire, Marzullo was allegedly placed on paid leave, which was converted to unpaid leave in December.
From December 2020 to February 2021, Marzullo and his lawyers allegedly investigated the actions of Fields, Martinucci and Florio, and allegedly “raised six separate allegations of wrongdoing by the Defendants to the college board of trustees.”
These allegedly included allegations of improper expensing to the college of costs for personal travel, a child’s “high school basketball party,” and personal car repairs.
According to the complaint, the college board of trustees allegedly took no action in response to the allegations. However, Fields allegedly filed a “nine count allegation” against Marzullo, accusing Marzullo of “improper conduct.”
The board of trustees then voted unanimously to fire Marzullo in March 2021.
In his complaint, Marzullo accuses the college and the individual administrator defendants of engaging in civil racketeering, by allegedly conspiring “to spend and use College funding, of which is government grants, for the purposes of personal use and home repairs,” and then allegedly conspiring to terminate Marzullo when he allegedly drew attention to the alleged misconduct.
In his complaint, Marzullo is asking the court to order the college to pay him his lost wages and back pay, plus interest and attorney fees, as well as unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Neither Morton College nor Fields responded to the Cook County Record, to comment or reply to the allegations in Marzullo’s complaint.
Marzullo is represented by attorneys John W. Chwarzynski Jr., of the firm of Hale & Monico, of Chicago, and Edmund P. Wanderling, of North Riverside.