Women Reject Settlement in Tammy Duckworth Workplace Lawsuit: Report

After a workplace retaliation lawsuit against U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-8th District) was seemingly resolved late last month, the two women who filed the action have told the Daily Herald on Wednesday that they're rejecting the congresswoman's settlement offer.

This announcement comes as Duckworth prepares to address the Democratic National Convention on Thursday. It also revives a major political liability for the congresswoman, who is running against incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk for the state's junior U.S. senatorial seat.

The lawsuit was filed by two employees of Anna Veterans' Home who claimed Duckworth, who was in charge of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs at the time, retaliated against them in 2007 for speaking out against their supervisor. Because she was a state employee at the time, Duckworth was represented in the case by Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office.

Initially, the plaintiffs—Denise Goins and Christine Butler—were asking for at least $50,000, but the state offered a settlement of $26,000, as well as covering lawyer fees and court costs. Goins and Butler, however, said the the offer came in closer to $40,000, according to the Herald.

But the dollar amount became a moot point for the women after the way members of Duckworth's campaign staff responded in public. Goins and Butler told the Herald they felt the congresswoman's campaign "decided to swing us through the mud again." It was those kind of remarks that made Goins and Butler reject the settlement, the Herald reports.

RELATED: Tammy Duckworth Settles Workplace Lawsuit for $26,000

"Today’s resolution is appropriate for what was always a frivolous workplace case that dragged on over eight years and was dismissed in whole or in part multiple times," Duckworth's deputy campaign manager, Matt McGrath, said in a press release after the settlement was originally announced.

The attorney general's office also said it settled the lawsuit at "nuisance value" to save money.

When asked by the Herald to comment on the settlement rejection, McGrath referred the news outlet to the attorney general's office. That agency did not immediately respond to the Herald's request for comment.

Kirk also did not immediately respond to the plaintiffs' announcement, but the Herald story was posted to his campaign's website.

More via the Daily Herald

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