Attorney expects to close Naperville discrimination probe by Tuesday
The attorney investigating a former Naperville employee's complaints alleging harassment and "discriminatory behavior" says he expects to complete his report by Tuesday.
Terry Ekl, who was hired by the city May 15, said he intends to compile his findings and present them to the city council in a closed session before a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at city hall.
"I was hired to do an investigation into two of the allegations made by the employee," Ekl said Friday.
Ekl would not describe the nature of the allegations he is investigating.
But city officials on Thursday said he was hired because some complaints the former employee outlined in a memo involve City Manager Doug Krieger, and it would be impossible to expect the city's own legal staff members to investigate their boss.
The former employee's memo, sent to the mayor and city council members as the employee was resigning May 2, alleges discrimination, inappropriate comments toward women and minorities, and improper treatment of workers occurred in the city's human resources department.
The memo outlines concerns the employee had with two male supervisors in the department who she says displayed "derogatory, degrading, demeaning and sometimes discriminatory behavior."
City officials said one of the supervisors named in the complaint has resigned, while the other still is employed by the city.
Near the end of the three-page memo, the former employee writes that she has heard Krieger "talk about employees in less than respectful ways and not behind closed doors." The memo also criticizes the handling of the former employee's performance review, and accuses Krieger of not responding in a timely manner to an appeal of the review.
In addition to the investigation Ekl is conducting for a maximum fee of $5,000, the city has launched an internal probe into the complaints.
Krieger said he cannot comment on the allegations against him while the investigation is ongoing, but he is cooperating fully and looking forward to its conclusion.