Former village manager sues Carpentersville, seeking severance
Carpentersville is being sued by former Village Manager Mark Rooney, who claims the village fired him five months ago and refused to pay him severance — a violation of his contract.
The village board voted in January to accept what it considered Rooney's “voluntary resignation,” saying he had stopped reporting for work. The move came after weeks of negotiations surrounding Rooney's employment.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Kane County argues Rooney was placed on involuntary leave, then terminated from the position he held for seven years. He never received the $190,000 owed to him in severance and benefits, the suit says.
It seeks at least $217,000 in compensatory damages for breach of contract and violation of the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. As of Thursday, village officials said they had not been served with the papers.
The complaint claims Village President John Skillman, the former fire chief, was “determined to terminate” Rooney since being sworn into office in May 2017. It also lists several instances in which Skillman apparently told Rooney he intended to fire him.
As fire chief, Skillman underwent a disciplinary interrogation in 2016, at which point Rooney asked him to retire in lieu of being terminated, the suit says. Skillman was elected village president a year later, and three other newcomers were either elected or appointed to trustee seats by the time the village board started evaluating the manager position.
Skillman said Thursday he never stated he would fire Rooney. He said the complaint is full of “inflammatory comments” personally attacking him.
“This is about a contract. This is not about myself or any of the village board members,” Skillman said. “It has nothing to do with what he's looking for (or) his end result. I'm really surprised to see him making these statements.”
Village Attorney Brad Stewart declined to comment, saying it would be “premature and negligent” to provide a statement before thoroughly reviewing the document.
According to his employment agreement, Rooney was entitled to nine months' severance pay at his annual salary of $176,710, plus benefits and some unused sick time, if he were fired after five years. The contract also says Rooney can be deemed to be terminated — granting him the severance compensation — if he resigns at the village board's suggestion.
When Rooney left the village, Carpentersville's then-attorney, Hart Passman, said Rooney was not entitled to that money because his resignation was voluntary.
“He packed up his office and left,” Skillman said. “He was never fired or terminated until he abandoned his post and didn't follow his own policy,” which states that multiple days of unreported absence is deemed a voluntary resignation.
Rooney's employment was the topic of various special meetings from Dec. 12, 2017, to Jan. 24, 2018. During that time, Rooney turned down multiple separation agreements proposed by the village board, none of which offered the full severance allotted to him through his contract, according to the suit.
After closed-session discussions Jan. 6, attorneys for both parties agreed Rooney would be placed on involuntary leave and would be paid through accrued benefit time while negotiations continued, the suit says. He received compensation for a two-week pay period ending Jan. 13.
In a Jan. 8 email obtained by the Daily Herald, Skillman told department leaders Rooney moved his belongings out of his office Jan. 5 and would not return to work. He said Rooney had requested a separation agreement and advised the employees not to contact him.
The village board voted in open session Jan. 16 to approve a separation deal, which Skillman said was being finalized by attorneys. When the parties were still unable to reach an agreement, trustees rescinded the offer a week later and accepted Rooney's voluntary resignation, effective Jan. 5.
The lawsuit calls Rooney's resignation “a fiction” and says his employment was terminated without cause. Rooney's attorney, Patrick Walsh, said Rooney declined to comment beyond what is in the complaint.
The parties are due in Kane County court Sept. 5.
Sued: Village, Rooney will be in court Sept. 5