Alleged Lynching Comments: Black Staffer Sues Schneider's Office

WASHINGTON — Following an alleged comment made to her by a supervisor about lynching, a Black staffer of U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield) is suing his office, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. Patrice Campbell claims her supervisor, Kathryn Davidman, "created an intolerable hostile work environment" and has since "engaged in retaliatory conduct" against her because of her race.

The lawsuit states Davidman’s conduct violates the Congressional Accountability Act. Davidman currently serves as Schneider's Casework and Veterans Affairs Director. Campbell is a constituent services representative.

According to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Davidman relayed a story to Campbell regarding lanyards worn to secure face masks and used to guard against COVID-19 infection. During the March discussion, Davidman told Campbell, who is the only Black employee in Schneider's office, according to the lawsuit, "You are going to have to get a rope and put it around your neck." Campbell said she was taken aback by the "obvious reference to lynching."

According to the lawsuit, Campbell said she explained to Davidman that this instruction was "inappropriate and inflammatory" and asked her not to say things like that. She said she further explained to Davidman that the "rope" to which she referred is called a lanyard.

On the following day, Campbell said during a videoconference with Schneider's entire staff —excluding Schneider himself — Davidman instructed her to "put your face on camera, please," according to the lawsuit. After ensuring that Campbell's face was visible on the video conference so that Davidman and the entire staff could witness her reaction, Davidman proceeded to repeat the same story she told Campbell the day before and to share how she had instructed Campbell that she would be required to “put a rope around her neck.” In the lawsuit, Campbell said Davidman laughed hysterically throughout her story.

Campbell claims Davidman was "fully aware" that she was targeting her employee and "making light of a horrific reality." Davidman mentioned that her husband had warned her that her statement to Campbell was totally inappropriate, according to the lawsuit.

After the video conference ended, Davidman called Campbell "to further mock her," laughing and declaring, “You should have seen your face when I told that story!”

The lawsuit claims that Davidman has not been disciplined for the incidents and remains Campbell's supervisor. Among other things, it also claims "of the few cases" Davidman has opened on behalf of African-American constituents, all have been assigned to Campbell, making her feel like the "Black people representative," according to the lawsuit.

As a result of retaliation following the incidents in March, Davidman violated the Congressional Accountability Act, claims the lawsuit, causing Campbell to experience "significant emotional pain and suffering," including depression and anxiety.

Schneider spokesperson Matt Fried released the following statement to Patch Friday afternoon regarding the lawsuit:

"It is against office policy to discuss specific details about internal personnel matters. To be clear, the Office took prompt and appropriate corrective action to address Ms. Campbell’s initial complaint. However, the federal lawsuit filed today by Ms. Campbell does not provide a complete or accurate representation of the issues or her treatment by any office personnel.

There is another side to the story. The Office of Rep. Brad Schneider is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to his staff members without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, or military status. Rep. Schneider respects the right of Congressional employees to pursue remedies created by the Congressional Accountability Act.

The Office looks forward to responding to Plaintiff's allegations in Federal Court at the appropriate time, and is confident that it will be exonerated in due course once all the facts are known."

The 10th District covers parts of Cook and Lake counties, including Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Glencoe, Grayslake, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Libertyville, Northbrook and Waukegan.