Election Dispute Cost New Lenox SD 122 $20,000

An election dispute fueled by school board member Maureen Broderick’s opposition to candidates running for the board cost the district $20,185, reports Tribune Media.

The legal battle began in 2013, when the District 122 election board — consisting of three members, including Broderick — voted in favor of removing Kathy Miller from the ballot because of clerical errors on her candidacy petitions. A Will County judge heard Miller’s appeal and reversed the board’s decision, reinstating Miller to the ballot. She was re-elected in April 2013. Legal fees accrued during the appeal added up to $8,941, paid by the district.

Miller then sued Broderick, claiming that she violated Miller’s civil rights by preparing and filing the objection to her candidacy petition, and recruiting a woman to sign the objection, according to the Tribune report.

Broderick’s objection to Miller’s candidacy was identical to that against a male candidate, and contained the same typos, according to the report. Broderick denied any wrongdoing. A judge dismissed the lawsuit against Broderick, saying she had “quasi-judicial immunity.”

Broderick then sued the district after it refused to reimburse her for the legal fees she accrued during the appeal. She won, and the board was ordered to pay the $6,082 for her attorney’s services.

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