Township Supervisor Criticized For Response To Harassment Scandal

LINCOLNSHIRE, IL — A Democrat running to become a state representative is accusing her primary opponent of "disrespectful behavior toward women" and "allowing his ambitions to push him beyond his abilities." Susan Malter, one of three candidates competing in March's Democratic primary for a shot at retiring 59th District State Representative Carol Sente's seat, said Vernon Township Supervisor Daniel Didech is trying to portray himself as "a hero in an emergency that he fostered."

The dispute relates to allegations that two male employees of the Vernon Township assessor's office, including the son of the assessor, bullied and harassed their female co-workers for months. Didech said he tried to fire one of the employees earlier this month after receiving photos of an online chat containing offensive comments and drug references between the two staffers from a whistleblower.

When the assessor reversed the decision and brought back the employee in question, Didech called a Dec. 5 emergency meeting and read portions of the messages. That meeting prompted a lawsuit alleging the meeting violated the state Open Meeting Act. Malter said she was stunned to find that Didech had read the "salacious and vulgar" messages at such a public meeting.

In a news release, Malter said Didech’s "disregard for the law and proper procedure" risks costing taxpayers money due to lawsuits, while also subjecting the women to another instance of "objectification and humiliation via Didech’s prurient amplification of written messages about them instead of drawing attention to the repeated complaints of bullying and harassment by the women in Raupp’s office."

Malter said she attended the Dec. 13 meeting of the Vernon Township board and found Didech's own behavior to be bullying.

"An intemperate decision by the supervisor to usurp Assessor Raupp's authority by firing Raupp's employee does not provide for a functioning professional atmosphere. The township board meeting on Wednesday displayed the bullying behavior of the township supervisor," Malter said.

"The assessor's office has questions to answer and must make changes without delay. The supervisor's apparently open hostility toward the assessor and his repeated argumentative interruptions of the assessor during the reading of a prepared statement made Raupp into a sympathetic character," she said.

During the Dec. 13 meeting, Didech allegedly interrupted Raupp's prepared remarks several times by shouting out interjections like "Not true" and "False." Malter described the supervisor's tone as "shocking" and said he was "neither professional nor productive."

Malter was also critical of Didech for what she described as a lack of seriousness in his response to the women's initial complaints. She said it was disturbing that Didech waited for photographs of the chat messages before taking real action and described his earlier responses as "window-dressing."

“A woman’s word should be enough to consider the matter serious. Women of the community cannot trust a man who only believes there is an emergency when he personally sees the hostile behavior of other men,” Malter said.

Didech responded by offering to explain the situation to anyone who was interested.

"I don't know where Malter is receiving her information from, but she is very confused about the facts related to this issue," Didech said. "I would encourage her – and anyone else – to reach out to me directly if she would like to learn how I have been quietly working for the past six months with the township board and attorney, the assessor and the women in his office to ensure that a safe office environment exists."

» Read more: Supervisor Tries To Fire Assessor's Son For Bullying, Drug Talk

_{Top photo: Susan Malter, Daniel Didech | Provided, official portrait}