In a recently filed federal court lawsuit, the Law Office of Sarah N. Swatosh, LLC, asserted claims on behalf of its clients, several municipal employees who allege that the Village of Cahokia, Mayor of Cahokia and four Village Trustees retaliated against them because they refused to support the Defendants in an April 2015 election campaign (and prior elections). Defendants’ conduct is a violation of the Section 1983 and the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution.
The Plaintiffs worked for the Village of Cahokia since at least May 2013. The following are some of the core factual allegations in the lawsuit:
- Public endorsement of a candidate for public office and political campaigning and management are protected by the First Amendment. The First Amendment forbids government officials from taking adverse employment actions against public employees for not being supporters of the political party in power.
- In April 2015 the Village held an election for: mayor; clerk; three positions on the Board of Trustees for the Village; four positions on the School District 187 Board of Education, and; four positions on the Commonfields of Cahokia Public Water District.
- Incumbent Mayor Gary Cornwell ran for re-election against Defendant Curtis L. McCall, Jr.
- Valerie White ran against Defendant Melba Sanders for the Trustee position in District 1.
- Kathi Carrico ran against Defendant Gloria Ware for the Trustee position in District 2.
- Mark McClelland ran against Defendant Jeffery Radford Sr. for the Trustee position in District 5.
- Mayor Cornwell, White, Carrico and McClelland ran on the same ticket. They called themselves the “Pride in Cahokia Party.”
- Defendants McCall, Sanders, Ware, and Radford ran on the same ticket. They called themselves the “McCall Team.”
- Plaintiff Jeanetta Perkins, Plaintiff Craig Greer, Rhonda Nichols and Cristiana Walker ran on the same ticket for School Board in 2015. They supported and were supported by the “Pride in Cahokia Party.”
- Plaintiff Sandra McClelland, Plaintiff Joe Morgan, Rory Morgan and Terry Gischer ran on the same ticket for Commonfields Board of Trustees in 2015. They supported and were supported by the “Pride in Cahokia Party.”
- In support of the “Pride in Cahokia Party,” Plaintiffs Perkins, Greer, McClelland, and Morgan ran robust campaigns against candidates supported by the McCall Team.
- Though Plaintiffs Dawn Cornwell, Montuelle Prater and Joi Shewfelt did not run for election, they were fierce opponents of the McCall Team. They frequently canvassed from door to door, put up yard signs, attended fundraisers, worked the polls on Election Day, created campaign literature for the “Pride in Cahokia Party” and publically spoke out against the candidacies of Defendants McCall, Sanders, Ware and Radford.
- Plaintiffs’ political activism did not go unnoticed. Indeed, Mayor McCall attempted to buy Plaintiff Shewfelt’s support by offering her full-time employment if she supported him.
- After a long hard fought battle, Defendant McCall won the mayoral race, and Defendants Sanders, Ware and Radford were elected as the Trustees of Districts 1, 2 and 5 (respectively).
- Within six weeks of the win, the Defendants exacted their revenge.
- In retaliation for Plaintiffs’ exercising their right of free speech (by opposing their candidacies), Defendants terminated the employment of Plaintiffs McClelland, Greer, Morgan, Prater and Shewfelt. They also transferred Plaintiffs Perkins and Cornwell to less desirable positions. Namely, Plaintiffs Perkins and Cornwell went from administrative jobs (behind a desk) to picking up trash and cleaning bathrooms.
- At the time of the termination/transfer, Defendants admitted that Plaintiffs’ job performance had nothing to do with their termination/transfer.
- Defendants’ conduct has imposed unconstitutional restraints on the free speech rights of Plaintiffs and other Village employees.
- Defendants’ conduct was done in a knowing, willful, reckless, and bad faith manner, and violated clearly established constitutional and statutory provisions and rights of which a reasonable person would have known.
- Plaintiffs seek to recover declaratory relief; lost wages/benefits; damages for emotional distress, humiliation, and diminished employment status; liquidated damages; and punitive damages, as well as attorneys’ fees and court costs.
- The lawsuits are filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, titled McClelland v. Village of Cahokia, Case No. 3:15-cv-00985, and Morgan v Village of Cahokia, Case No. 3:15-cv-00986.