A federal jury has ruled the Lake County Circuit Clerk’s Office must pay more than $2.5 million to three workers who say they were fired for supporting a Republican opponent of current Clerk Erin Weinstein.
Michelle Higgins, Tiffany Deram and Joshua Smothers said they campaigned for Republican incumbent Keith Brin in 2016 and claimed Weinstein fired them shortly after taking office in December of that year. Higgins and Deram were department chiefs, having joined the office in 1985 and 1998, respectively. Smothers was a supervisor, having joined in 2007
The three sued Weinstein and the county in October 2017, alleging the new clerk fired them about an hour after being sworn into office, telling them to collect their belongings and leave the office due to their poor job performance and an office restructuring.
In September 2021, U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood denied Weinstein’s motion to dismiss the case.
In that ruling, Wood rejected Weinstein’s argument Higgins and Deram were technically deputy chiefs, a position where political affiliation can be factored in employment status because duties involve setting policy. Higgins and Deram both testified they were unaware of the deputy chief job description and did not meet the job’s requirement of having a bachelor’s degree. They also argued their replacements didn’t set policy.
The case proceeded to trial.
At the conclusion of the two weeks of arguments, a jury returned a ruling in favor of the workers on Dec. 2.
Chicago attorney Paul Vickrey, of Vitale, Vickrey, Niro, Solon & Gassey, who represented the workers along with Patrick Solon and Dylan Brown, issued a statement regarding the verdict.
“The case turned largely on circumstantial evidence,” Vickrey wrote, “including Weinstein's shifting reasons for the firings. For example, the official records state that (Higgins) and (Deram) were fired for ‘attitude’; the reason for (Smothers) was ‘reduction in force.’ However, the records showed glowing evaluations of all three (including perfect scores for ‘attitude’ for (Higgins and Deram)), and that Smothers was ‘replaced.’ Meanwhile Weinstein promoted employees of the clerk’s office who worked on her campaign, including one who was one paid suspension for insubordination, and another who was on probation for poor performance.”
Weinstein also had cited Higgins’ two arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol, claiming they made her unsuitable to continue in the clerk’s office. In denying the motion to dismiss, Judge Wood pointed out those arrests were 30 years ago, and Weinstein did not show how such old incidents impaired Higgins’ ability to do her job.
The jury awarded Higgins $50,000 for pain and suffering, $391,467 for lost wages and $593,000 for present pension value. Deram and Smothers will get $25,000 each for pain and suffering and all three are getting $75,000 in punitive damages. Derams’ lost wages total $188,704, while the present value pension is worth $724,204. Smothers will get $214,053 in back pay and $228,070 in pension value.
“Our clients are thrilled to be vindicated,” Vickrey continued. “They were devoted to their careers and loved working for the clerk’s office. Dedicated, hard-working public servants should not fear losing their jobs every four years for exercising their constitutional right to free speech on their own time.”
Erin Petrolis and Phillip Rehani, of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, represented Weinstein's office.