Sexual Harassment Allegations Trigger 'Impartial Investigation'

EVANSTON, IL — City officials announced plans to hire an outside law firm to carry out a "thorough, impartial investigation" of the handling of allegations of pervasive sexual harassment against female beach staff in the Evanston Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department.

Following several hours of closed-door City Council discussions Saturday evening, city staff on Monday revised the public statement they had issued in response to a report detailing allegations of widespread sexual misconduct and abuse of female lifeguards and beach employees working for the city of Evanston.

In the first version of the statement from the city manager's office, staff said they were "confident that the appropriate measures have been implemented to respond to the serious issues raised," but that language was eliminated from the update.

Also cut from Friday afternoon's statement: the assertion that city staff had made repeated efforts to identify the people accused of misconduct but had been unable to do so because all the complaints had been anonymous.

Instead of expressing confidence that city staff acted appropriately, the statement now only expresses confidence that measures taken in response to the allegations described in last week's WBEZ report have "improved" the lakefront work environment.

"That said, the City is also aware that this is only the beginning," the revised statement continued. "It takes ongoing, sustained work to transform a culture, and every resident, every beach patron, and, especially, every lakefront employee is entitled to full transparency regarding all City actions and processes to date and plans and systems established to ensure safety in the future. Therefore, the City of Evanston will be engaging an outside firm to conduct a thorough, impartial investigation of every aspect of the situation, and will be sharing further updates with the community in the near future."

Despite the promise of "full transparency regarding all City actions and processes to date," City Manager Erika Storlie has not responded to questions regarding which employees have been placed on administrative leave in the wake of the WBEZ report, which employees have resigned, and who in the Parks Department, if anyone, has been terminated in response to allegations of misconduct at the lakefront.

The city's official statement says only "one male employee was not rehired for the 2021 season" following discussions with seasonal beach staff. But sources tell Patch at least one senior city staffer has been placed on administrative leave.

Both versions of the statement acknowledge that representatives of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department and Human Resources Division spoke with the petitioners, but they did not identify which senior staffers participated in the conversation. The statement from Storlie's office likewise does not specify when she became aware of the allegations.

Emailed questions to Jennifer Lin, human relations manager, regarding when and whether she notified anyone about the lifeguards' petition were answered with an automatic reply indicating Lin was out of the office for an indefinite duration for unspecified reasons.

Lawrence Hemingway, head of the parks department, declined to answer questions about when he learned of the petition and with whom, if anyone, he shared it.

RELATED: Sexual Harassment Rampant At Evanston Lakefront, Staff Warned

Last summer's allegations of a culture of rampant sexism among season beach staffers followed earlier claims of harassment of full-time staff in the parks department.

As Evanston Patch reported in November 2019, a former parks department staffer publicly accused Hemingway of sexual harassment and Lin of covering it up.

Porchia Davis, former Assistant Manager of Youth and Young Adult Services, said she was not the only woman in the office who was subject to harassment from Hemingway, who has not publicly responded to her allegations.

"You all did nothing to protect staff from being openly targeted, harassed and, for me, sexually," Davis told city staff and alderman at the time. "I'm again asking City Council that an independent investigation be conducted on the current director of the Parks and Recreation Department for harassment and the Human Resources [Division that] actively participated in this cover-up."

A human relations investigation determined Hemingway had created an unhealthy work environment and made sexual comments on social media about an employee, according to a February 2019 disciplinary action form. Hemingway was apologetic and took responsibility and was issued a written reprimand. The "prior discipline issued" portion of the form is redacted.

Former Mayor Steve Hagerty has not responded to questions about his handling of the allegations. Records show Hagerty was notified of the circulating petition within about a month of its organizers' first meeting with senior parks department and human resources staff. But it could not be determined what, if any, actions he took in response.

Mayor Daniel Biss has said he began investigating the allegations as soon as he became aware of them, but he has yet to say when that was. He told Patch the city would identify the outside firm conducting the investigation as soon as an agreement was reached.

UPDATE: Lakefront Sexual Harassment Petition Not Shared By Staff, Biss Says