The Orland Fire Protection District’s former human resources director alleges that her First Amendment rights were violated when she was fired in June because she objected to politically motivated hiring.
In a federal lawsuit filed Monday, Joanne Chavez Buchanan claims that the district’s stated reason for firing her, to save money, was a pretext, and that she was let go in retaliation for questioning hiring practices.
Buchanan contends that she was instructed to sidestep the district’s hiring protocol in filling seasonal jobs for the summer internship program and in replacing a receptionist. The lawsuit names the district and district board president Jim Hickey as defendants.
In May, Buchanan was given a list of seven people to hire for the internship program for students in the district who are 18 or older, according to the lawsuit.
It says the list included the two teenage sons of Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth Gorman (R-Orland Park), neither of whom was yet 18.
When Buchanan objected to hiring the boys because of their age and the apparent political influence, Hickey ordered her to hire them anyway, the suit says.
Gorman backed a political slate, Fiscal Voices for Orland, that ran candidates for village trustee in Orland Park as well as two successful candidates for the fire district board, Blair Rhode and Christopher Evoy. Gorman administered the oath of office to Rhode and Evoy when they were sworn in last spring.
Gorman on Monday called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said she believed her sons met the criteria for the internship program. Gorman is not a defendant in the complaint.
“She’s (Buchanan) trying to grab some attention and grab some of the taxpayers’ money,” Gorman said.
The lawsuit says Buchanan, who had been with the district since 2008, was fired June 15 by Acting Fire Chief Ray Kay and the district’s attorney, James Roche, who came to her office. When she asked why, Buchanan was told the board wanted to reduce costs and cut salaries, according to the suit.
It says Buchanan offered to take a pay cut but was told by Roche that wasn’t an option and a replacement had been hired.
The district’s current HR director submitted her resume in May — shortly after Rhode and Evoy were sworn in and Hickey was named board president — and completed an application for the job more than a week prior to Buchanan’s firing, according to district records.
Buchanan’s attorney, Martin Dolan, said his client’s allegations show that the fire district’s hiring is “classic pay-to-play.”
“Non-politically connected college kids and taxpayers lose out,” and it “erodes the public trust in government,” Dolan said.
– Via The Southtown Star
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