Sex Scandal Secrecy Stipulated In City Manager's Severance Deal

EVANSTON, IL — The separation agreement with City Manager Erika Storlie set for approval at Monday's City Council meeting contains several clauses seemingly aimed at ensuring the secrecy regarding the circumstances behind her departure.

After more than 16 years working in the city manager's office in Evanston, Storlie's last day will be Oct. 8 under the terms of the agreement, which she negotiated with Corporation Counsel Nick Cummings in the wake of a scandal over the city's handling of allegations of sexual misconduct among lakefront employees.

The city has hired the law firm Salvatore, Prescott, Porter & Porter to conduct an "independent, thorough and impartial" investigation into the allegations and the city's response.

Storlie's separation agreement requires her to "reasonably cooperate" with that investigation, as well as any litigation arising from her time as city manager, and gives her a chance to review the contents of the report.

But it also requires the city to keep the contents of the report secret.

"The undersigned agree that strict confidentiality is mutually beneficial to both parties," the agreement said.

"The Report and its contents are confidential and privileged and shall not be disclosed by the City unless required by law," it said.

Plus, the city agrees to keep all information relating to Storlie's employment confidential, except required by law, and Storlie agrees to keep "any information obtained during the course of her employment" secret unless required by law or available to the public.

If the agreement is approved by alderpeople Monday evening, Storlie will immediately receive a lump sum payment of 20-weeks pay, plus allowances, stipends and contributions to deferred compensations. Twenty weeks of Storlie's base pay is nearly $100,000. In January 2022, Storlie is also due to receive compensation for accrued sick days.

Storlie has denied knowing about the petition from 53 past and present female lakefront employees alleging a culture of rampant workplace harassment and abuse — including accounts of sexual assault — back when it was brought to the attention of city staff in July 2020.

At the time, Storlie was interim city manager, and the City Council had retained the Northbrook-based executive search firm GovHR to identify candidates for the job on a permanent basis. She would later be named among three finalists, and aldermen voted 7-3 to approve a contract with her in October 2020.

According to a memo prepared by staff on the eve of a WBEZ report that first publicly disclosed the petition, the petition was first presented to parks department managers Adam Abajian and Ray Doerner on July 15, 2020.

On July 29, 2020, four women who sent the email and a male lakefront supervisor met with Abijian, Doerner, Karen Hawk, assistant director of the parks department, Jennifer Lin, manager of the Human Resources Division, and HR Specialist Casey Solomon.

At that meeting, the following issues were identified by the City: 1) criminal action perpetrated against minors during off-duty hours, 2) narcotic drug use and underage drinking by lakefront employees during off-duty hours, 3) the need for repeated sexual harassment training, 4) investigations that needed to be performed, and 5) the cessation of physical training as discipline. PRCS and HR reiterated the importance of employees coming forward to discuss specific accounts of the conduct identified and encouraged the four women to request that the women who signed the petition speak to HR to share allegations of wrongdoing. PRCS and HR representatives expressed extreme concern with the allegations of criminal sexual assault and statutory rape happening off-duty at parties and advised that the women alleging the criminal behavior needed to call the police.

According to the memo, the four women and one man were adamant that the signatories to the petition did not want a formal investigation. They specifically said they did not want any employees to be disciplined or terminated regarding the allegations in the petition.

"They insisted that the intent of the petition was not to punish any employees, but to share their concerns," according to the memo from Hawn, Lin and Doerner. "Even when HR pressed the matter about the obligation to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, the four women made it very clear that they did not want any investigation to be completed and wanted no police involvement."

Parks and HR staff believe they took "the necessary steps to ensure a safe and healthy workplace at the lakefront, while also respecting employees' privacy and wishes," according to the memo, which makes no mention of the then-interim city manager or her involvement.

The agreement also includes a further non-disclosure agreement. It binds city officials "not to make any statements to the press or public regarding Storlie's separation" from her job. But if Storlie makes public statements, the city "may issue a response."

If Storlie does not make any statement to the press, city officials agree to limit its response to a prepared statement. Although the agreement had yet to take effect, city staff had Friday already begun following the directive to respond only with the prepared statement, which says Storlie's "service is appreciated" and that city officials "wish her success in her future endeavors."

Likewise, former Mayor Steve Hagerty's role in the scandal could also remain shrouded in secrecy as a result of the separation agreement. Hagerty said he would cooperate with the investigators, but has declined to answer questions about his knowledge of the allegations and the city's response.

The City Council is due to meet at 6:30 p.m. Approval of the proposed separation agreement is the first item of business following announcements and comments from the public.

Read more:

• Severance Deal For Evanston City Manager Erika Storlie On Agenda
• Lakefront Sex Harassment Scandal Probe Assigned To Outside Firm
• Harassment Petition Not Shared By Staff, Evanston Mayor Says
• Sexual Harassment Rampant At Evanston Lakefront, Staff Warned
• Divided Evanston City Council Approves City Manager Contract