Council Set To Settle Bobkiewicz Discrimination Suit For $500K

UPDATE: The Evanston City Council voted 6-3 to approve the settlement at its Nov. 13 meeting

"Obviously making a decision to settle litigation is not something one would want to do, particularly given our financial circumstances, but there are situations where you have to make a business decision," Ald. Don Wilson said. "I don't want to make a decision to spend taxpayer money to prove a point or to win, so there are occasions like this in my opinion where you have to make a business decision and it's a smart business decision to move past the litigation and I think that's what this is about."

"The likelihood of this case being decided in our favor was slim, having nothing to do with the facts of the case," Ald. Ann Rainey said. "I know for a fact ... that our city manager in no way discriminated against this woman because of race or gender and she did not function in an unhealthy work environment." She voted against the settlement, but acknowledged it was a smart business decision.

"If we don't settle this case, this woman will go after the Evanston taxpayer for every last penny she can bleed out of us. However, I think at some point a person, and maybe even the city at some point," she said, "has to stand up to this kind of action."

Original story:

EVANSTON, IL — Alderman will take action Monday on a resolution to settle a racial discrimination suit by Evanston's former public works director against the city and several city officials, including City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz.

In a federal suit filed in May 2016, Suzette Robinson, who was at the time responsible for five divisions and a staff of more than 100, alleges Bobkiewicz engaged in a pattern of unfair treatment against black city employees and later eliminated her position when she complained. Bobkiewicz has denied all such claims.

Among the unfair treatment alleged in the complaint, the suit claims Bobkiewicz told Robinson repeatedly he was told by white department heads she had only gotten her job because of affirmative action, that Bobkiewicz made "several derogatory comments" about black elected officials in Evanston, and that he used the phrase "make sure we have the right people on the right seats on the bus," at meetings, even after being told it was insensitive to black staff.

During a 2014 performance evaluation, Robinson was critical of Bobkiewicz treatment of Evanston's black community and city employees, according to the suit. It alleges Bobkiewicz learned about her feedback in a closed session of the city council and "later cornered Robinson into revealing that she was responsible for those comments."

Thereafter, starting around November 2014, Bobkiewicz began a "campaign of harassment and retaliation" against Robinson, who reported directly to him, the suit claimed. He allegedly told her "she was of no value to the City Council," suggested to her staff that she would be leaving soon and they could potentially replace her, tried to block her from meeting with one of Evanston's two black aldermen and reassigned some of her duties to other, less skilled staff.

That month, Robinson filed a complaint that Bobkiewicz was creating an unhealthy work environment, and according to the suit, three of her five complaints were later sustained after an investigation by Assistant City Manager Marty Lyon. As a result, then-Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl issued a written reprimand to Bobkiewicz on Jan. 14, 2015.

The suit also claims that Evanston's city attorneys later tried to dig up dirt on Robinson.

In August 2015, Bobkiewicz consolidated two departments, utilities and public works, which effectively eliminated Robinson's position. Her lawsuit claims aldermen only approved the reorganization the following month, and alleges that Bobkiewicz was retaliating against her for complaining about racial discrimination.

"I deny Ms. Robinson's claims in this lawsuit that race or retaliation had any role in my decision-making," Bobkiewicz told the Evanston Review in May 2017. He has not responded to a request for an interview regarding the proposed settlement.

The $500,000 price tag for the settlement, which is not an admission of guilt or liability, would be paid for by Evanston's insurance fund, according to a memo to alderman from Assistant City Attorney Henry Ford.

Robinson herself is the subject of a pending lawsuit in Cook County by a former employee in the public works department, who alleges she was harassed for her clothing and called a "stripper and a prostitute" by Robinson. That suit, filed in January by Kenya Evans, also names the city as a defendant.

Robinson, who now lives in Washington D.C., declined to comment through her attorney.

The original nine-count complaint (below) asked for compensation of more than $75,000, plus punitive damages and attorney's fees.

Judge Sara Ellis dismissed some of the counts earlier this year, while others were allowed to proceed.

_{Top photo: Wally Bobkiewicz at Evanston City Council | Credit: Jonah Meadows}