MADIGAN STAYING PUT
Won’t resign over questions of handling of sexual harassment cases within his organization
House Speaker Mike Madigan on Tuesday released a list of nine misconduct complaints that he says demonstrates his office has been there for potential harassment victims and has handled cases “according to protocol.”
And despite growing criticism, Madigan said he has no plans to step down.
“I’m not resigning. I’m moving forward,” the powerful Southwest Side Democrat said at a Springfield press conference. “I’m working with this particular issue, and we’re going to work our way through it.”
Compiled during an internal review, the list outlines nine staff complaints received from within the speaker’s 250- employee office since 2013 “concerning discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, or retaliation,” the document says.
One complaint that involved a female staffer who “was uncomfortable with unwanted advances and inappropriate comments from a lobbyist” led to the lobbyist being fired by his employer. Another complaint from a female staffer who claimed she faced discrimination over a medical condition was handled and dismissed by the state Department of Human Rights.
Most of the nine cases described by Madigan’s office were resolved when ethics officers began to “monitor” or “intervene” following a complaint.
The list does not include unresolved cases— a “small” number of “relatively recent” claims, according to Madigan’s lawyer Heather Wier Vaught— nor cases involving House members or lobbyists complaining about one another or “complaints by staff about a member regarding manner of treatment or derogatory comments.”
Vaught said specific dates were left off the list to protect the confidentiality of complainants who did not want to be named or identified. She also decried reporters for calling staffers to ask if they had lodged complaints in recent weeks as Madigan’s office has come under fire for its handling of sexual harassment allegations.
“That has led to a lot of concern, and very, frankly, frightened people who may have things in their lives . . . that they don’t want to discuss publicly,” Vaught said.
Madigan called the list an “educational document” that shows his office “has been available for those that wish to file complaints. And we’ve done it according to protocol . . . and we’re going to continue to work with all interested parties to move toward a change in culture around the Capitol building and in the politics of Illinois.”
Not covered on the list were complaints received by Madigan’s Southwest Side 13th Ward office, from which the speaker fired longtime aide Kevin Quinn this month over sexual harassment allegations.
But Madigan insisted there is no negative culture in any of his operations.
“There’s no culture with me, and if you read through how these [ complaints] were processed, you can see that at the leadership level, we don’t tolerate inappropriate behavior,” he said. “We just don’t tolerate it.”
A growing number of leaders across the state— including from within Madigan’s own party, which he has ruled for decades— have called for an outside investigation of the speaker’s office. Others have called for him to step down from the House.
Madigan dismissed many of the calls for his resignation as maneuvering by politicians “who support the [ Gov. Bruce ] Rauner radical right agenda.”
But he said he would welcome an independent probe.
“I’m prepared to cooperate with any inquiry.”