A final salute to Michael Dwyer General Superintendent DOWM North District

If you read the below column by Fran Spielman, you have a great interpretation of the Department of Water Management. The City of Chicago Department of Water Management is the worst run water department in the United States. In the article, Fran Spielman laid out the termination (firing) (AKA retirement) of Michael Dwyer. Michael was in my opinion, one of the best foreman in the Department. The Department of Water Management rarely promotes people that are capable of leadership. When Michael was foreman, he was very competent although sometimes too demanding. Michael was very loyal to the Chicago Water Department and seemed thankful for his job. Not long ago, Michael was a shooting star and went from Assistant District Superintendent to Superintendent, to General Superintendent. (a non-union position)

When Michael was my boss, he was very direct but knew how to be thankful for a job well done. Michael also expected a certain amount of work. A good boss has a reasonable amount of expectations from people under his authority. When Michael was an Assistant Superintendent, his manners were outstanding. He made requests from the Investigator Crews and always prioritized by need, not by political connections. I never saw him request an emergency investigation because of an Alderman, or Commissioner special demand. So, in my regard, I rate him extremely high in the type of person that should lead.

I was not around when Michael Dwyer became Superintendent. I heard from many workers he was too demanding and making changes the political folks did not want. “He is stepping on the wrong toes”. I just want everyone to know, they fired Michael Dwyer. Plain and simple. I remember Michael was severely injured when he fell into a ditch years ago. There is a certain group that really run the Department of Water Management, I am going to do a story on these slobs. Just absolute scum. My friends at the Jardine Plant told me, Michael Dwyer was given an ultimatum of firing or retiring in just a few minutes. Time for Chicago Clout to work these scumbags out of a job a.s.a.p. Count on it. Randy Conner appointed Michael Dwyer, so this is on him.

Emanuel’s commitment to changing Water Management hate-filled culture questioned

02/01/2018, 05:35pm
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration was accused Thursday of “talking out of both sides of its mouth” when it comes to changing a hate-filled culture laid bare in racist, sexist and homophobic emails.

Fran Spielman

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration was accused Thursday of “talking out of both sides of its mouth” when it comes to changing a hate-filled culture laid bare in racist, sexist and homophobic emails that triggered a housecleaning in the city’s Department of Water Management.

Attorney Victor Henderson represents six current and former Water Management employees — all African-Americans — who have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Department of Water Management of creating “a hostile and abusive work environment” based on race that includes violence, intimidation and retaliation.

Henderson’s claim that Emanuel is insincere about his commitment to change that hate-filled culture stems from two new taxpayer-funded court filings in the case.

The motions seek to dismiss ousted Water Management Commissioner Barrett Murphy and fired Managing Deputy William Bresnahan as named defendants in the case on grounds that neither man did anything wrong.

“The city is talking out of both sides of its mouth. You’ve got the inspector general saying there’s a culture of racial discrimination. You have City Hall firing the commissioner and others. And on the other hand, it’s delay and deny in the courthouse, taking the exact opposite position like none of this ever happened,” Henderson said.

“If they really didn’t do anything, they shouldn’t have been asked to leave. If they did do something, the city should acknowledge it. . . . What the city is doing is having it both ways — one way politically, the other way legally,” he said.

Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey stressed that the city “does not tolerate discrimination of any kind.”

But he said, “Not all allegations made in lawsuits are necessarily meritorious. In this particular instance, there are claims regarding specific employment decisions that do not appear to be supported by the records.”

The motion to dismiss Murphy from the case was filed by former federal prosecutor Vincent Connelly, an attorney at Mayer Brown LLP. In it, Connelly notes that the “hostile work environment claim” against Murphy rests on two emails. The first was written by now-fired Deputy Commissioner Paul Hansen to Murphy in February 2013.

The second email was written by Murphy in August 2015, describing an equation for calculating the circumference of a circle, Connelly wrote.

“There is no allegation in the complaint that Murphy wrote any offensive comments at all. . . . There is no allegation that Murphy wrote anything else, but Hansen responded to this email with offensive comments,” the motion to dismiss states.

“Two offensive emails received and one forwarded in two years is not objectively severe and pervasive conduct by Murphy. Plaintiffs failed to state a claim for hostile work environment against Murphy.”

Connelly noted that in a “single sentence accompanied by a photograph,” the current and former employees alleged they were “subjected to racist images, such as a hangman’s noose in restrooms and Water Department vehicles.” The plaintiffs further claim they were “called names, including the n-word and `you people.’ “

“The complaint contains absolutely no allegation that Murphy, as a supervisor, participated in hanging a noose or in calling the plaintiffs names,” Connelly wrote.

“There is no basis for liability based on direct harassment by Murphy as a supervisor. Nor is there any allegation that Murphy was negligent in remedying harassment by others. Plaintiffs make no allegation that a co-worker hung the noose or that any co-workers called them names,” Connelly wrote. “Plaintiffs do not allege that they reported these incidents or that Murphy ever knew about them. There is no basis for liability against Murphy based on negligence in remedying harassment by co-workers.”

The motion to dismiss Bresnahan from the case was filed by Del Gado Law Group LLC, another firm hired by the city.

Although plaintiffs allege that Bresnahan “received racist emails from Hansen,” the motion states, “There are no allegations that any of the plaintiffs were aware or received these proposed emails.”

Last spring, a housecleaning triggered by the email scandal flushed out Murphy, Bresnahan, Hansen and two other top managers. Murphy’s ouster was a shocker because he and his wife are close friends with Emanuel and his wife, Amy Rule.

Emanuel acknowledged then that Murphy “offered his resignation because he knew that we had to hit a re-set button” at the department at the center of the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals.

Last month, nearly two dozen current and former Water Management employees complained that the same hate-filled culture persists, even after a white commissioner was replaced with an African-American.

Emanuel responded by arguing that it would take Commissioner Randy Conner, who is African-American, a lot longer than six months to change a hate-infested Water Management culture decades in the making. But he categorically denied that nothing has changed.

Ferguson shines more light on Water Management email scandal

Joseph Ferguson Chicago Office oif Inspector General.jpg CHICAGO 10/17/2017, 06:03pm Fran Spielman
Inspector General Joe Ferguson on Tuesday shed more light on the email scandal in Chicago’s Department of Water Management in a way that raises questions about just how much has changed since the appointment of an African-American commissioner.
In his quarterly report, Ferguson talked about the investigation that determined that a “supervisory employee” he refused to identify “received numerous racist and offensive emails on his city email account over the course of several years and failed to report those emails” to his superiors.
In at least one instance, the supervisory employee provided an “affirming and acquiescing email response,” the inspector general wrote.
“For example, the employee received several emails in which the senders reference or mockingly imitated Ebonics; received multiple racist jokes via email and received several emails disparaging or belittling an African-American employee,” the inspector general wrote.
Ferguson recommended that the supervisor be fired and placed on the Do-Not-Hire list.
Instead, Water Management Commissioner Randy Conner reduced the punishment to a 14-day suspension, the inspector general said.
“DWM acknowledged that the employee failed to report receiving numerous racist and offensive emails, but noted that the majority of emails in question were also sent to three top-level managers, including the commissioner at the time,” Ferguson wrote.
“DWM stated that, when ‘one’s entire chain of command is on emails and/or engaged in a certain type of behavior, confronting the situation may seem untenable for a less senior employee….DWM further noted that the employee was the recipient of one of more ‘harassing and/or sexually explicit communications,’ which created a hostile or offensive work environment.” Sponsored by Dr. Jart+
In June, a housecleaning triggered by racist, sexist and homophobic emails swept out Water Management Commissioner Barrett Murphy, managing deputy William Bresnahan and district superintendent Paul Hansen.
Four current and two former Water Management employees–all African-Americans-have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the department at the center of the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals of “a hostile and abusive work environment” based on race that includes violence, intimidation and retaliation that “weave a tapestry of hostility that dominates every aspect” of their job.
That includes less-desirable shifts and work assignments and being denied promotions, transfers, overtime and training opportunities. Black women were routinely referred to as “bitches and whores,” the suit contends. Those who dared complain were also punished with “unfair, arbitrary and capricious” discipline, plaintiffs claim.
Last week, South Side Ald. David Moore (17th) demanded City Council hearings into the racist culture that, he claims, continues to permeate Chicago’s Department of Water Management–even after an email scandal triggered the appointment of Conner.
To underscore the point, Moore displayed a photo taken in April of a Water Management truck with a noose hanging above the steering wheel.
According to Moore, the unidentified perpetrator of the offense apologized to co-workers who might have been offended by it and got off with a reprimand.
Conner responded by saying that the noose photo was taken two months before he took over and the incident was “dealt with the same day.” According to insider, David M. McKinney a Motor Truck Driver for the Department of Water Management had something to do with the Noose. Now that dude has some serious clout. According to sources, he went in front of Dwayne Hightower and got off easy.

Chicago Alderman wants hearings to address racism at the Chicago Water Department

Alderman demands hearings on racist culture at city water department
CHICAGO SUN_TIMES 10/11/2017,

Fran Spielman

A South Side alderman on Wednesday demanded City Council hearings into the racist culture that, he claims, continues to permeate Chicago’s Department of Water Management — even under an African-American commissioner.

To underscore the point, Ald. David Moore (17th) displayed a photo taken in April of a Water Management truck with a noose hanging above the steering wheel.

According to Moore, the unidentified perpetrator of the offense apologized to co-workers who might have been offended by it and got off with a reprimand.

“It sends a racist message of hanging people,” Moore said, adding that “a firing should have taken place.”

Water Management Commissioner Randy Conner is the African-American charged with cleaning house in the department at the center of the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals.

Conner said the noose photo was taken two months before he took over and the incident was “dealt with the same day.”

“They approached the gentleman where the string was hanging in the truck…. He was very remorseful. He apologized for the insensitivity of it. And he removed it. That was it,” Conner said Wednesday.

“It was a slip-knot that he used for his own personal writing instrument. That’s how it was explained to senior management.”
Conner was asked whether he “buys” that explanation.

“It’s not about what I buy. It’s about what the senior managers felt was appropriate,” the commissioner said.

“It wasn’t about me trying to undo or go back in time. When I got there, I hit the re-set button on everything that was going on in the Department of Water Management. And since then, there hasn’t been another incident.”

Given the progress made and the sensitivity training held, Conner said he sees no need for City Council hearings.

“It didn’t happen overnight and it’s not going to be fixed overnight. But, we’ve made significant strides,” Conner said.

“I reject the fact that this is the same place that it always was. In the four months that I’ve been there, we’ve let people know there is a zero-tolerance for these types of things.”

Moore strongly disagreed. He argued that City Council hearings will encourage the testimony of Water Management employees and shield them from future retaliation.

Michael Outley, a retired assistant chief operating engineer in the Department of Water Management, attended a City Hall news conference Wednesday.

Moore was joined at the City Hall news conference by a handful of retired Water Management employees who confirmed the alderman’s claims about the racist culture.

Former assistant chief operating engineer Michael Outley said he retired in July after being the victim of what he called “stalking, intimidation and violence in the workplace” that made his job untenable.

“It’s like this thing with [Harvey Weinstein] in Hollywood. They can’t go to anybody because of political retaliation and fear,” Outley said.

In June, a housecleaning triggered by racist, sexist and homophobic emails swept out Water Management Commissioner Barrett Murphy, managing deputy William Bresnahan and district superintendent Paul Hansen.

Four current and two former Water Management employees — all African-Americans — have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the department of “a hostile and abusive work environment” based on race that includes violence, intimidation and retaliation.

That includes less-desirable shifts and work assignments and being denied promotions, transfers, overtime and training opportunities. Black women were routinely referred to as “bitches and whores,” the suit contends.

Inspector General Joe Ferguson subsequently issued a quarterly report that included explosive new details about the emails scandal.

The report included allegations that the son of a former Chicago alderman used his city email account to buy or sell firearms and cars and send hate-filled emails describing African-Americans as “wild animals.”

Ferguson uncovered the racist, sexist and homophobic emails circulating in the Department of Water Management while investigating allegations that now former District Superintendent Paul Hansen had used his city email account to sell guns, as the Chicago Sun-Times was first to report.

Hansen is the son of former longtime Ald. Bernard Hansen (44th). The son’s checkered past with the water department includes allegations that political clout helped him get his job back after a DUI conviction.

Hansen was accused of sending an email with the subject line “Chicago Safari Tickets” to multiple high-ranking Water Management colleagues.

“If you didn’t book a Chicago Safari adventure with us this 4th of July weekend, this is what you missed,” the email states, listing the number of people shot in Englewood, Garfield Park, Austin, Lawndale, South Shore, Woodlawn and other neighborhood plagued by gang violence. It concludes: “We guarantee that you will see at least one kill and five crime scenes per three-day tour. You’ll also see lots and lots of animals in their natural habitat.”

Hansen was further accused of using his city email account to negotiate personal purchases or sales of at least four firearms and five cars and used a city computer to access websites unrelated to city business on thousands of occasions over a four-month period, including accessing sexually explicit videos on YouTube. Paul Hansen’s DUI Video is also on Youtube.

Alderman Tom Tulley’s Boytoy City supervisor called African-Americans ‘wild animals’ in email: IG

The son of a former Chicago alderman used his city email account to buy or sell “at least four firearms and five cars” and send hate-filled emails describing African-Americans as “wild animals.”

Inspector General Joe Ferguson on Monday issued a quarterly report with several explosive new allegations about a Department of Water Management employee whom sources identified to the Sun-Times as former District Superintendent Paul Hansen.

Hansen is the son of former longtime Ald. Bernard Hansen (44th), who presided over Wrigleyville during the Cubs’ marathon battle for lights at Wrigley Field. The son’s checkered past with the water department includes allegations that his political clout helped him get his job back after a DUI conviction.

As the Chicago Sun-Times was first to report, Ferguson originally uncovered the racist, sexist and homophobic emails circulating in the water department while investigating allegations that Paul Hansen had used his city email account to sell guns.

New disclosures include a claim that the now-fired employee sent an email with the subject line “Chicago Safari Tickets” to multiple high-ranking water department colleagues.

“If you didn’t book a Chicago Safari adventure with us this 4th of July weekend, this is what you missed,” the email states, listing the number of people shot in Englewood, Garfield Park, Austin, Lawndale, South Shore, Woodlawn and other neighborhood plagued by gang violence. It concludes: “We guarantee that you will see at least one kill and five crime scenes per three-day tour. You’ll also see lots and lots of animals in their natural habitat.”

Yet another email with the subject line, “Watermelon Protection” includes the image of a Ku Klux Klan robe on a stick in the middle of a watermelon patch. Another under the subject line, “U Know U be In Da Hood” contains several photos, including one of a wheelbarrow full of watermelons with a sign that states, “Apply for a Credit Card. Free Watermelon.”

Hansen was further accused of: “repeatedly” sending sexually explicit photos and videos; using his city email account to negotiate personal purchases or sales of at least four firearms and five cars and using a city computer to access websites unrelated to city business on thousands of occasions over a four-month period, including accessing sexually explicit videos on YouTube.

Hansen hung up on a Sun-Times reporter seeking comment on the new allegations.

Ferguson’s quarterly report also reveals a Water Management chemist “harassed” a former and current employee “through the transmission of multiple text messages and phone calls that included derogatory and threatening messages.”

The alleged harassment occurred “after both employees had already filed multiple complaints–including with the Chicago Police Department, the Department of Human Resources, and OIG — against the chemist for aggressive and threatening behavior toward them.

Newly-appointed Water Management Commissioner Randy Conner followed Ferguson’s recommendation to fire the chemist, only to have the fired employee file a grievance. Arbitration is ongoing.

Another now-fired Water Management supervisor was accused of sending racist and hateful emails that referred to Muslims as “rag head —suckers” and describing African-Americans as “wild animals” who are “untamed” in response to Hansen’s “Chicago Safari” email.

The fired supervisor also suggested that people “should have thrown grenades at a black Italian politician instead of bananas,” Ferguson wrote.

Last month, a housecleaning in the department at the center of the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals swept out Commissioner Barrett Murphy, managing deputy William Bresnahan and Hansen.

Sources said Murphy was held responsible for the chain of racist and sexist emails; Murphy was among those receiving the emails but did not discipline the employee.

Ferguson’s investigation is ongoing and is almost certain to trigger more high-level firings, City Hall sources said.

Lawsuit Says Black City Employees Faced Racial Slurs, Were Denied Promotions At Water Department

A new lawsuit filed Thursday against the city claims that black employees of Chicago’s Water Department were discriminated against, sexually harassed, denied promotions and spoken to with racial slurs.
The lawsuit was filed by seven employees, some current, some former, with hopes of earning class-action lawsuit status to extend its impact. The filing paints a disturbing picture of racism inside the water department, including alleging that the employees were regularly subjected to racial slurs and other demeaning language, including the n-word and being called “you people.” Additionally, ” “Black female employees are called bitches and whores on a regular basis,” according to the suit. The Sun-Times has published the suit here.
The suit follows recent leadership changes at the Water Management Department and the release of racist and sexist emails written between ex-department heads. The city recently appointed Randy Conner as the new water department commissioner; Conner, who is African American, was promoted to replace Barrett Murphy, the ex-comissioner who recently resigned with two other colleagues after an inspector general report revealed racist and sexist emails were being sent among department employees.

Racist Water Department emails found during probe of alleged gun sales CHICAGO 05/15/2017, 07:03pm

Fran Spielman
Inspector General Joe Ferguson uncovered racist and sexist emails circulating in the Department of Water Management while investigating allegations that the son of a former alderman had used his city email account to sell guns, City Hall sources said Monday.

Paul Hansen, a now-fired, $122,280-a-year district superintendent in the Department of Water Management, is the son of former longtime Ald. Bernard Hansen (44th). The elder Hansen presided over Wrigleyville during the Cubs’ marathon battle for lights at Wrigley Field.

On Monday, Paul Hansen refused to comment about the gun or email investigation before hanging up on a Chicago Sun-Times reporter.

His checkered past with the Department of Water Management includes allegations that his political clout helped him get his job back after a DUI conviction.

Sources said it was during the course of an eight-month-long investigation into allegations that Hansen was using city emails to sell guns that Ferguson stumbled upon the hate-filled emails that triggered Friday’s housecleaning in the department at the center of the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals.

Barrett Murphy, head of the Chicago Department of Water Management, was fired last week. | Sun-Times file photo

Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired Water Management Commissioner Barrett Murphy, whose wife is a close friend of the mayor’s wife, Amy Rule, and accepted the resignations of Hansen and the department’s $148,380-a-year managing deputy William Bresnahan.

Sources said Murphy was held responsible for the chain of racist and sexist emails sent by an underling whom the commissioner failed to discipline, even though Murphy was among those receiving the emails.
He could not be reached for comment. The inspector general’s office refused to comment.

Emanuel was tight-lipped when asked Monday to define the role he accused Murphy of playing in the email scandal. But he referred obliquely to the broader investigation of alleged gun sales.

“We were made aware from an IG report on one particular employee. But in that process, it exposed a culture in the Water Department and in the workplace that, in my view, does not represent what the city’s values are,” the mayor said.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel also accepted the resignation of William Bresnahan (shown in 2004). | File photo

“Barrett agreed that there should be a re-set button hit as it related to the culture, which is why I’m pleased that Randy [Conner] is assuming that leadership and the IG work continues at this time.”

Sources said the racist and sexist emails mark an ugly new chapter in a politically incorrect department that has more than its share of them.

They include racist references to now-former President Barack Obama; perverse comments about women and gay people, and someone distributing an image of an African-American deputy commissioner in charge of water distribution that depicted him with a gorilla face.

Murphy’s firing was a stunner because of his close ties to the mayor.

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley hired Murphy in 1999 as Chicago prepared for the potential Y2K terrorism threat that never materialized. Murphy’s wife, Lynn Lockwood, is an Emanuel friend who once chaired a political fundraising committee for the mayor.

Lockwood had a one-year, $160,000 consulting contract with the tourism agency known as Choose Chicago. She was an aide to former first lady Maggie Daley and worked for the city cultural affairs department. Emanuel appointed her to the Chicago Public Library board in March 2012.

On Friday night, hours after being summarily dismissed, Murphy and Lockwood received an award from the Crossroads Foundation of the Francis Xavier Ward School for their work in promoting a Catholic education and in helping to raise money that was used, in part, to provide scholarships for disadvantaged children, many of them minorities. The prestigious Catholic school was started by Maggie Daley.

Sources said Lockwood delivered an acceptance speech through tears. She told associates that her close friend, Emanuel’s wife Amy Rule, was texting her throughout the bittersweet and humiliating Friday night ceremony at a downtown hotel.

The award and the contribution it symbolized for the high-profile couple underscored the surprising nature of the allegations against Murphy.

“These emails are not consistent with who they are. They’re socially conscious people,” said a source who has known Murphy and Lockwood for years.

Yet another source who knows Murphy well was less tolerant, even though the now-former commissioner has not been accused of writing any of the hateful emails — only receiving them.

“If he was trying to fit in with the culture [at the Department of Water Management], shame on him,” the source said.

Ald. Edward Burke (14th), chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee, said the image of a commissioner who looked the other way when racist and sexist emails were being circulated by underlings does not jibe with the Barrett Murphy he knows.

“My experience with Barrett Murphy has always been terrific. I thought he was a great city official who had a great record of accomplishment in whatever role he filled in the city government. And I wish him well in his future,” Burke said.

Burke was asked whether the new scandal would revive calls to privatize the Department of Water Management that Emanuel put to rest shortly after taking office by doubling water and sewer rates to rebuild the aging system.

“That’s an enterprise fund. It’s heavily dependent on bond proceeds. There’s probably so many restrictions in the bond documents that gets them their funding that to undertake something like that would be a major change in the form of government which might even require a referendum,” the alderman said.

The Department of Water Management has long been notorious around City Hall for its history of corruption and an ugly, hate-filled culture.

In 2005, a housecleaning in the department at the center of the Hired Truck scandal swept out then-Water Management Commissioner Rick Rice and nine politically connected underlings accused of participating in a payroll scam.

The brother-in-law of Cook County Commissioner John Daley and the relative of a key Hired Truck figure were among those purged for allegedly falsifying attendance records over a two-month period — maybe longer — by swiping each other in and out.

First Deputy Water Commissioner Donald Tomczak was convicted of doling out jobs, promotions and overtime to an army of political workers who worked for Daley-backed candidates, including Emanuel. Support from Tomczak’s illegal army helped elect Emanuel to Congress in 2002.

In 2010, Hansen was allowed to return to his then-$97,760-a-year assistant district superintendent’s job after an unpaid leave triggered by a DUI arrest that stripped him of his driver’s license.

A valid driver’s license was essential to his job, which called for supervising water and sewer projects, deploying personnel and equipment and inspecting job sites.

According to the police report, Hansen was driving west on Route 20 in Galena when he was pulled over for speeding. When the officer got behind him, Hansen allegedly kept going and increased his speed to more than 75 mph in a 55 mph zone. He also was observed repeatedly crossing the center line, police said.

After pulling Hansen over, the officer reported, he smelled alcohol on Hansen’s breath and that he had glassy eyes, slurred speech and a “slight stagger” or “sway.”

Asked if he’d been drinking, Hansen acknowledged having “about four or five beers at a bar,” police said. He twice refused a field sobriety test and was placed under arrest. At that point, he asked if “something could be worked out” stating that he knew Terry Kurt, the state’s attorney for Jo Daviess County, the police report states.

At the sheriff’s office, he refused a Breathalyzer test. That refusal carries an automatic 12-month suspension of driving privileges for first-time offenders.

Hansen was charged with speeding and driving under the influence, but pleaded guilty June 9 to a lesser charge of reckless driving. He was fined $1,500 and sentenced to a one-year probation.

Hansen’s unpaid leave had begun after the Chicago Sun-Times raised questions about his arrest and looked into reports from co-workers that the former alderman’s son was having foremen and laborers chauffeur him around and take him to and from work. At that time, Ferguson was trying to determine how Hansen did his job without a license, sources said.

Letter to Joseph Ferguson Chicago Inspector General: The 2nd Inspector General Complaint

I am a two-time victim of fraud committed by a Chicago City Council Finance Committee employee named Monica Somerville. Ms. Somerville’s job title is a “legislative aide” though she has fraudulently written in her letters to me that she is the “Director of the Workers’ Compensation Division.”

Monica Somerville sent me letters on October 19, 2015 and January 7, 2016 to inform me that my benefits were being stopped for “Not participating in vocational rehabilitation” and “Non-compliant.” Somerville typed the word “Director” next to her name in both letters (see PDF of my October 19, 2015 and January 7, 2016 letters). Underneath her name and title of “Director,” Somerville typed, “Workers’ Compensation Division.”

Somerville is not the Director of the Workers’ Compensation Division. According to Human Resources, Robert Serafin is the workers’ comp Director and Somerville is a legislative aide (see Human Resources work history of Somerville and Serafin PDF). Somerville committed fraud by falsely claiming she was a director when she has no legal authority or legal power to do so. Furthermore, Somerville deceptively listed herself as the “Director of Workers’ Compensation Division” in the professional website called “Linkedin” (see Linkedin PDF).

Fraud is defined as, “a person or thing intended to deceive others, typically by unjustifiably claiming or being credited with accomplishments or qualities.” Commit fraud is exactly what Somerville did. She purposely deceived me by falsely claiming she is the workers’ comp director when her job title is legislative aide. Somerville expressed she had more power and authority from her phony “Director” job title than she actually had. Somerville’s overstatement of her position and authority with the job title of “Director” is very relevant because in both her letters to me she stopped my duty disability pay and payment of my medical expenses.

City employee Reginald Williams Sr. also received a letter in which Somerville committed fraud with her false claim that she is the director (See Williams Sr. Article). In Somerville’s letter she denied Williams Sr. surgery and said he can return to unrestricted duty though he is taking the strongest painkiller available. Williams Sr. and his personal physician both maintain surgery is necessary and only hope of Williams Sr.’s recovery. Since Somerville is deceiving injured city employees with her false job title of “Director,” you have to wonder what other things is she lying about or doing wrong.

The four exhibits and supportive evidence mentioned in this fraud complaint against Monica Somerville are as follows:

1. A copy of my complaint
2. Monica Somerville’s letters dated October 19, 2015 and January 7, 2016
3. Legislative Aide Monica Somerville and Workers Comp Director Robert Serafin’s work history from the Human Resources Department
4. Monica Somerville’s false Linkedin claims
5. Article featuring Reginald Williams Sr. and self-titled workers’ comp “Director” Monica Somerville’s bewildering response

Patrick McDonough

Injured City Worker