A federal judge could soon decide whether the former head of the state agency that oversees hiring, promotions and discipline within the Illinois State Police, can keep pursuing his claims that one of his former employees, who is now indicted on charges of falsifying payroll records to rake in overtime pay, falsely accused him of sexual assault and used her political ties to Gov. JB Pritzker to get him removed before he could report her alleged misdeeds to police.
Jack Garcia, former director of the Illinois State Police Merit Board, leveled those allegations in a counterclaim filed earlier this year against Jenny Thornley, who had served as the chief fiscal officer and director of personnel for the Merit Board.
Thornley had initially sued the Merit Board and Garcia in April, accusing the Merit Board of terminating her in retaliation after she accused Garcia of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
However, in his counterclaim, Garcia asserts Thornley completely fabricated the sexual assault allegations in a bid to prevent her termination and prosecution for her alleged theft.
“… This litigation is not about sexual assault or sexual harassment,” Garcia wrote. “Instead, it is about the discovery of Plaintiff Jenny Thornley’s ongoing scheme to defraud the State of tens of thousands of dollars.
“It is about Thornley learning that she had been reported to the Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General for theft, forgery, and official misconduct.
“It is about Thornley aggressively leveraging her political influence and powerful connections to insulate her from any accountability for her corrupt actions.
“It is about Thornley retaliating against anyone who would dare to pierce her bubble of political influence to hold her accountable.”
Thornley has yet to respond to the counterclaim. A federal judge has given her until Jan. 18 to do so. She will need to do so with a new court-appointed attorney, however, after the lawyers she had been working with abruptly secured permission from the judge to withdraw from the case. In their motion to withdraw, attorneys Steven M. Laduzinsky and Natalie K. Wilkins, of the firm of Laduzinsky & Associates, cited “irreconcilable differences” with Thornley in explaining why they could not continue to represent her.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman granted the attorneys’ request to withdraw on Nov. 17, and appointed attorney Howard L. Teplinsky, of the firm of Levin Ginsburg, of Chicago, to represent Thornley.
Garcia and Thornley have been in court since this spring.
But the story behind their legal fight dates back to late 2019. It was at that time, according to court records, that Garcia, a former Illinois State Police trooper, allegedly was first told by another Merit Board employee, identified as the then-Merit Board Programs Director Emily Fox, that Thornley may have been falsifying payroll records.
According to the counterclaim, Garcia then began looking into the accusations, and allegedly uncovered evidence that Thornley had been padding her paycheck by claiming overtime pay for hours she allegedly never worked, including by allegedly forging his signature on payroll records.
Garcia then reported his alleged findings to the Office of the Executive Inspector General, and set up a time to meet with police in Springfield to launch a potential criminal investigation.
In the meantime, however, the counterclaim asserts Thornley allegedly began leveling a series of allegedly false accusations against Garcia, culminating in an accusation of sexual assault.
According to the counterclaim, Thornley took that accusation up the ranks within state government, using her ties to Pritzker and top officials within his administration, as well as Pritzker’s wife, M.K.
According to the counterclaim, Thornley’s alleged gambit bore fruit, when Garcia was removed, and the investigation into Thornley’s alleged misconduct halted, moments before Garcia was to meet with police in Springfield.
Later, Garcia notes the Merit Board brought in an outside investigator to look into both Thornley’s sexual assault allegations against Garcia, and Garcia’s claims concerning Thornley’s alleged fraud and theft.
That investigation found no basis to Thornley’s claims, and ultimately led to criminal charges against Thornley, and her termination.
Garcia notes Thornley’s claims were also investigated by the Illinois State Police and the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office in Springfield, and the investigation was closed, after a “forensic investigation revealed that the faces Thornley alleged were virtually impossible.”
In his counterclaim, Garcia further claims Thornley is continuing to defraud Illinois taxpayers, by continuing to collect workers’ compensation payments resulting from injuries she allegedly incurred from the alleged sexual assault.
Garcia asserts Thornley’s lawsuit “is merely the latest step in Thornley’s campaign to defame Garcia both in retaliation for his investigating her fraud, and in her ongoing efforts to fraudulently pilfer more money from the State.”
Garcia’s counterclaim asserts he is not suing her for defamation as a result of the accusations contained in her lawsuit. Rather, he identified at least 16 different instances in which Thornley allegedly repeated the sexual assault accusations before her claims landed in court, including to the governor’s wife, and several of his top aides in early 2020.
Garcia was restored to his former post in July 2020. But in September 2021, Pritzker signed a new law enacted by the Democrat-dominated Illinois General Assembly, forbidding anyone who previously worked in the Illinois State Police from holding the top spot at the Merit Board. This action again forced Garcia from his post.
Emily Fox has since been named to replace Garcia in that role.
Garcia is seeking unspecified damages, including punitive damages, against Thornley.
In her complaint, Thornley painted a different version of the story, asserting Garcia had improperly grabbed her breast, and made inappropriate comments to her.
Further, she asserted she had made numerous reports of potential ethical misconduct against Garcia from 2017-2020, and Garcia’s decision to report her for allegedly pilfering unearned overtime pay was payback.
She further asserts the outside investigation of her accusations, and of the accusations against her, was a sham, conducted by people friendly to Garcia.
In her complaint, Thornley is asking the court to order the defendants to pay her unspecified compensatory damages, plus back pay, interest and attorney fees.
Garcia is represented in his counterclaim action by attorneys Jeremy D. Margolis and Neil G. Nandi, of the firm of Loeb & Loeb, of Chicago.
Editor's note: This story has been revised from a previous version, which had incorrectly related the details of Jack Garcia's reinstatement and ultimate removal from his post at the Merit Board.