Former Orland Park Worker Claims Violence Because He's Gay: Suit

ORLAND PARK, IL — A 23-year-old Orland Park resident is suing the Village, stating in a suit filed this summer that a supervisor with the Parks and Recreation Department failed to address hostile work conditions within the department after the employee made it known to coworkers that he is gay.

Liam Walsh worked summers for the Parks and Rec department during the summer months between 2016 and 2020 and is now seeking $250,000 in damages and a jury trial, according to a lawsuit filed in July.

In the suit, Walsh, who is a schoolteacher, claims that the village promoted the supervisor this spring after reportedly ignoring the behavior of one of Walsh’s fellow workers, the lawsuit states. That coworker is accused of slapping and beating Walsh and also referring to him using derogatory slurs while on the job on numerous occasions, the suit states.

The suit also maintains that the supervisor also “fired” Walsh by not bringing him back to the department this next summer, despite Walsh receiving good reviews for his work.

The Village declined comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, citing pending litigation. However, in a statement relating to Walsh's claims, the village vehemently denies that Mr. Walsh was ever harassed or discriminated against, and denies any alleged harassment or discrimination on account of his sexual orientation.

It continued: The Village of Orland Park will vigorously defend itself against these false allegations and any other baseless claims of discrimination or efforts to mischaracterize the Village’s actions or inactions as instances of discrimination against any of its employees.

Haskell Garfinkel, whose firm is representing Walsh, said, "While it comes as no surprise that the Village is attempting to deny all responsibility for their reprehensible actions, we do believe that discovery on this case will show that immediately upon learning of our client's claims, they terminated at least one supervisor who perpetuated the discrimination and its coverup."

The village's attorney denied allegations of harassment and discrimination in a statement sent to the Chicago Tribune.

The lawsuit maintains that Walsh was subjected to "workplace violence and homophobic sexual harassment at the hands of a coworker as well as myriad gender stereotyping" as well as homophobic comments by other coworkers and supervisors.

The suit outlines a number of incidents that took place between one of Walsh and one of his co-workers. In one instance, Walsh asked the coworker why he had been unpleasant to him. According to the suit, the coworker walked over, took off the cap Walsh was wearing, tore it and threw it in the trash.

Walsh informed a supervisor what had happened and was told "to stay out of it," the lawsuit states.

In another incident, Walsh was assigned a task along with the coworker he had issues with. The lawsuit states when Walsh asked if the coworker was going to assist with the project, the coworker "bore down on him" and started violently attacking him, the suit says. Two other supervisors, along with Walsh's brother who was another seasonal employee for the department" entered the garage where the encounter took place, the suit says.

The suit states that Walsh was punched in the eye by his coworker before he was hit again repeatedly. One of the supervisors was able to pull the co-worker off of Walsh, the suit says. But in a meeting involving everyone who was present, a department supervisor said she couldn't report the incident because she would get into trouble.

The same supervisor then, according to the lawsuit, ordered another supervisor to throw a subsequent report to village officials about the treatment in the trash.

The lawsuit states that earlier this year, the coworker involved in the reported violence against Walsh was promoted and that Walsh was ultimately told he would not be returning to work for the department this summer after he said he planned to move ahead with plans to report the hostile behavior because of his sexual orientation.