Inspector: State employee tried to influence case

SPRINGFIELD — The state Office of the Executive Inspector General has found that a former investigator for the Illinois Department of Human Rights tried to influence a sexual harassment settlement for personal gain.

Inspector General Ricardo Meza reported Wednesday that Derrick Venton told a Human Rights mediator in March 2011 that he wanted a settlement of at least $10,000 for a friend who filed a sexual harassment complaint against an ex-employer. Venton told the mediator if she got $12,000, the mediator might get a part of it.

The 58-year-old Venton resigned from the agency in February 2012. His suburban Chicago home has no listed phone number.

The Department of Human Rights disciplined three other employees with work suspensions. They included the mediator for not reporting Venton’s overture.