More lawsuits continue to pile up against scandal-plagued Tiffany Henyard and the two municipal governments over which she serves as chief executive, as ex-workers now claim they were fired for refusing Henyard's alleged demands to commit illegal acts.
On March 13, attorney Matthew R. Custardo, of Lisle, filed three separate lawsuits in Chicago federal court on behalf of former municipal workers who claimed they were all mistreated and fired from their local government jobs, allegedly in retaliation for failing to be sufficiently loyal to Henyard's regime.
Two of the lawsuits were filed nominally against the village of Dolton by former village employees Samysha Williams and Karen Johnson. A third lawsuit was filed by former Thornton Township human resources manager Sandra Tracy.
For Williams, the federal lawsuit marked her second legal action against Henyard. In February, Williams, who had served as the village's building department director, filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, claiming Henyard and her political allies had smeared her reputation by falsely accusing her of fraud and theft of village amid a particularly contentious political campaign.
Henyard and Dolton have been sued by business owners who similarly claim their permit was refused, despite meeting all other requirements, because they refused to donate to Henyard's campaign.
Further, Williams claimed Henyard retaliated against her for abiding by Illinois' Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and releasing public information requested under the FOIA law, despite Henyard's alleged orders to no longer obey that law.
Henyard has been separately sued by Dolton's village clerk over similar claims concerning directives to no longer fulfill FOIA requests, despite the requirements of the law.
In her lawsuit, Williams claims the working conditions under Henyard's administration caused her to become physically ill, and she took short term leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA.) However, Williams claims she was fired while on FMLA leave, allegedly in violation of the law.
The lawsuits from Tracy and Johnson alleged similar mistreatment and misconduct on the part of Henyard and her cohorts in the village of Dolton and Thornton Township.
Redmond was fired by Henyard's administration from his job as a village code enforcement officer, allegedly after FOX32 aired stories about his past conviction on sexual assault charges, for which he had served 24 years in prison.
According to Johnson's complaint, the village officially told her she was fired for improper use of village computers during work hours.
Tracy's lawsuit marks the first to take aim against Henyard for her conduct in her dual role as Thornton Township Supervisor.
According to the complaint, Tracy was on FMLA leave for a surgery when Henyard took office in 2021. After refusing Henyard's demand, Tracy said she was kicked out of her office, demoted, and forced to complete all of her work tasks from either home or her car in the township building parking lot. According to the complaint, if she needed to meet with someone who worked in the building, she was forced to meet outside.
According to the complaint, she was later forced to manually punch a timeclock in the building, despite being refused entry, forcing her to sneak in. She said this produced terror, as she constantly feared harassment or arrest at the hands of Henyard's armed police security detail, were she to be caught inside the building.
Tracy claims this alleged mistreatment ultimately led to her suffering a heart attack.
According to the complaint, Tracy was ultimately terminated, but has still not been paid for her final weeks of work for the township.
The lawsuits all ask the courts to order Henyard and either the village of Dolton or Thornton Township to pay for the alleged misconduct and retaliatory firings, including potentially costly punitive damages and attorney fees.
Henyard has been repeatedly accused of corruption, misgovernance and lawlessness since she took office as village president in the south suburban community in 2021.
Those accusations have spilled over repeatedly into Cook County court and now federal court, where she and the village have been sued for a variety of claims.
Other officials in Dolton have accused Henyard of misusing village police for her own security and raiding the village's funds for her own personal benefit and enjoyment, throwing lavish parties and spending large sums on "hair, makeup, photography and graphic design" for various promotions.
And the village's former police chief has sued the village, claiming he was fired because Henyard believed his wife was too friendly with Henyard's political opponents.
Henyard's behavior has drawn attention from the Illinois Attorney General's Office over her creation of an allegedly fake charity run by political allies. Published reports also indicate the FBI is investigating allegations of corruption in Dolton and Thornton Township.
Thornton Township pays Henyard over $200,000 per year in salary.