Army Reservist: I was demoted while serving overseas

After serving her country overseas last year, Anne Brophy says she looked forward to returning home and serving her county.

Instead, the former assistant McHenry County state's attorney says she came home to find herself demoted and stuck in a position where her only option was to leave behind her 11-year career as a criminal prosecutor.

Now Brophy's claims are the subject of a review by the Illinois attorney general into whether the McHenry County state's attorney's office violated state laws concerning employees returning from military leave.

Those laws require that, except in special circumstances, workers called to military duty be able to return to work with the same salary, seniority and status as when they left.

Brophy, a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, said she kept her salary and seniority when she got back from a three-month humanitarian mission to Peru last year.

But her status took a significant hit, going from a high-ranking felony prosecutor's post when she left in July 2006 to that of a "backup" prosecutor in the office's juvenile division when she returned.

"It's an entry-level job," said Brophy, now practicing with a private firm in Crystal Lake.

"I was not offered my position back," she said. "I believe that because of my time in the military, I was put in a position where I had to leave the office."

The McHenry County state's attorney's office disputes those claims, saying Brophy's job assignment had nothing to do with her military commitment.

"Any personnel moves here are based on performance or office needs," First Assistant State's Attorney Thomas Carroll said.

Carroll said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on which of those was the reason for Brophy's re-assignment. But since she resigned in December, he said, the office has hired another prosecutor with military commitments.

"(State's Attorney) Lou Bianchi has always been a huge supporter of the military and veterans groups," he said.

Brophy's case was brought to the attention of the attorney general's office by Operation Homefront, an assistance group for military families in Illinois.

"It looked like a serious situation," said the group's president, Eric Schuller. "I don't want to say someone is guilty, but it needs to be investigated by those with knowledge of the laws and those who enforce the laws."

Brophy said she agreed to speak publicly about her case for the first time this month in honor of Veterans Day and because of concerns others in the state's attorney's office and elsewhere could receive similar treatment.

"A prosecutor's duty is to do justice, and I don't think I received that," she said.

Carroll, however, believes Brophy has other motives. The former prosecutor, he said, is an active supporter of Dan Regna, Bianchi's challenger in February's Republican Party primary.

"It's a shame that this occurs, but I guess that these kind of political stunts are going to continue until the primary election is over," he said. "I think people are going to see right through it."

Brophy confirmed she has circulated nominating petitions on Regna's behalf but said she is not a part of his campaign committee or his inner circle.

"I'm hoping to get a state's attorney in office who is more pro-soldier," she said.