Another delay in Mundelein gas station's hearing

Mundelein officials have again put off deciding whether to rescind the business license of a gas station where a worker made sexual comments to female customers.

Initially set to resolve the matter this coming Monday night, the board has pushed the discussion to Feb. 11. The hearing was delayed because the attorney representing the station's owners will be out of town, village officials said.

Both meetings being at 7 p.m. at the main fire station, 1000 N. Midlothian Road.

At a Jan. 14 hearing, trustees unanimously agreed the actions of an employee at the Marathon station, 301 Townline Road, were a public nuisance and the business should be punished.

The board could not agree on a penalty that night, however.

The case stemmed from separate incidents involving Benjamin J. Brophy, 32, of 301 Cherrywood Court, Vernon Hills.

In June 2006, Brophy asked a female customer if she was wearing underwear, witnesses testified Monday. And in October 2007, he offered another customer $40 to have sex with him, according to testimony and police records.

Brophy was arrested after the second incident. He later pleaded guilty to solicitation of a sexual act .

Brophy was not arrested after the 2006 incident because the victim didn't pursue charges. He was fired after local media reported his arrest, the owners testified.

The board has three punitive options: a fine; a temporary suspension of the business license; or permanent revocation of the license.

The case was the second of its kind to reach the village board in recent months. In November, the panel suspended the business license for the Clark gas station at 4 E. Hawley St. for 15 days and fined the owner $5,000.

That action followed the arrest of an employee who accosted a female customer. Going back to 2005, four other female customers said they were solicited for sex at the Clark station.