April 17--A former northwest suburban school administrator contends in a new lawsuit that she was wrongly terminated after reporting claims that her supervisor, a principal, "had been drinking during the school day" and "engaged in repeated sexual harassment" of female co-workers.
Elizabeth Wong, a former assistant principal in Palatine-based Community Consolidated School District 15, filed suit in Cook County court this month against two former administrators and the district's school board, claiming they violated parts of the state's whistleblower protection law and interfered with her employment.
Shortly after Wong was suspended from her District 15 job in 2011, she filed a similar lawsuit in federal court, where a judge ruled that her claims lacked sufficient evidence or were not the jurisdiction of the federal court, records show. She has sought a higher court ruling on the claims rejected for insufficient proof.
The newer lawsuit, filed April 10, says Wong was an assistant principal at Carl Sandburg Junior High School in Rolling Meadows when she first reported concerns about the school's principal in 2010. She claims in the lawsuit that the principal's drinking "interfered with the performance of his (job) duties" and that he "was sexually harassing female employees," including Wong.
Wong reported her concerns to administrators multiple times, but the principal continued to work at Carl Sandburg, according to the lawsuit. The principal, who has since retired, could not be reached for comment.
The school board and administrators deny the allegations in the lawsuit, Vanessa Clohessy, an attorney for the defendants, said in an email.
Wong said in her lawsuit that, after raising concerns about the Sandburg principal, she was transferred the next school year to Frank C. Whiteley Elementary School in Hoffman Estates, where she claims her new principal, Mary Szuch, "began a campaign of retaliatory harassment" against Wong. Szuch is among the defendants in the suit.
Later that year, school officials suspended Wong and declined to renew her contract for the following school year, saying she shared the results of a survey on teaching conditions at Whiteley with at least three people "without permission," according to the lawsuit. In the suit, Wong acknowledged she emailed the teachers union president about the survey.
The lawsuit also claims that another defendant, James Garwood, a former assistant superintendent, hurt her chances of finding a job elsewhere by failing to respond to inquiries from prospective employers or responding "in a manner calculated to prevent (Wong) from obtaining future employment with other districts."
Peter Follenweider, an attorney for Wong, declined to comment except to say the suit was filed to protect Wong's rights before the statute of limitations on the claims runs out.
Besides Szuch, Garwood and the school board, the federal suit lists District 15 Superintendent Scott Thompson and former administrator John Fenton as defendants.
Garwood, now superintendent of Skokie School District 68, did not return calls seeking comment.
Szuch announced her retirement from District 15 after becoming ill.
In the newest lawsuit, Wong is seeking $500,000 for each of two claims. She is also asking for attorneys' fees, punitive damages and to be rehired as an assistant principal.
In federal court, Wong is appealing a ruling against her on claims that the administrators' actions "were taken in retaliation" and amounted to "willful and wanton sexual discrimination" and a violation of Wong's due processes, according to court records.
sfreishtat@tribpub.com
