A new report on an investigation into Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office paints a picture of a workplace culture of bullying and harassment in which some employees said they did not feel comfortable reporting allegations of misconduct and were made to feel “dispensable.” NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern reports.
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan released a 202-page report Tuesday detailing the findings of an investigation into his office's workplace culture, including specific allegations of misconduct made last year.
The investigation was conducted by former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey, who previously served as former Gov. Bruce Rauner's inspector general and now works as an attorney in the private sector.
Madigan retained Hickey in June 2018 after multiple people at the statehouse came forward with claims of sexual harassment, workplace intimidation and retaliation, among others.
Hickey was hired to investigate three specific claims, the report says. The first was that Madigan, his former chief of staff Tim Mapes and another lawmaker retaliated against Rep. Kelly Cassidy for speaking out about his office's handling of sexual harassment allegations. Second, Hickey investigated a female activist's claims that then-Rep. Lou Lang made unwanted advances towards her and bullied her once she rejected his advances. Finally, the probe explored allegations made by a then-employee of the speaker's office that Mapes made inappropriate comments to her and failed to properly handle instances of harassment.
The conclusions reached on each allegation varied, with Hickey issuing multiple recommendations for improvement in areas ranging from reporting mechanisms, leadership and employee policies.
Over the course of the investigation, the report says Hickey interviewed more than 100 people who work at the Capitol, including more than 80 current and former members of the speaker's staff, as well as more than 12 members of the House Democratic Caucus.
The report also drew on the review of thousands of pages of documents, including memos, personnel files, emails, social media, office policies and Illinois law, Hickey wrote.
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"I welcomed this independent review to better understand the workplace culture within the Office of the Speaker and to help improve the environment in the Capitol," Madigan said in a statement on the report, thanking Hickey as well as the staff, lawmakers, lobbyists and others who were interviewed.
"I take responsibility for not doing enough previously to prevent issues in my office, and continue to believe that we, collectively, need to do more in the Capitol to improve our workplace culture and protect the women and men who work here who want to make a difference in the world,” Madigan's statement continued.
"While the Office of the Speaker has taken many steps to improve and will work to adopt Ms. Hickey’s recommendations, Ms. Hickey’s report makes clear there is more to be done. As part of my full commitment to change the culture, I am ready to work with the other legislative caucuses to ensure that everyone has a safe workplace."
You can read the report in its entirety below: [[556612441, C]]
