A former employee of Cook County Commissioner Deborah Sims has filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging Sims fired her for reporting sexual misconduct by a high-ranking staffer with whom Sims had a romantic relationship, according to the complaint.

       The complaint was filed by a longtime worker in Sims’ office who alleges she was subjected to retaliation and sex discrimination by Sims and her chief of staff. The former aide said she was fired in October — just months after a separate investigation by the county watchdog agency concluded Sims had retaliated against her for reporting sexual harassment.

       Sims denied the allegations in a Thursday statement through her spokesman, Sean Howard. Her chief of staff, who Sims confirmed remains in office, did not respond to a request for comment.

       “These latest allegations are baseless and without merit,” Sims’ statement read. She did not elaborate, citing Cook County policy against commenting on personnel matters.

       Sims continued: “Our office has not been notified, subpoenaed, nor received any request to interview or question any employee on our staff. The Cook County Inspector General’s office thoroughly investigated (the former employee’s) claims and provided to our office recommendations in which we have fully complied.”

       Commissioner Deborah Sims at a Cook County Board meeting in 2013. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

       Sims, a Democrat from Posen, announced in October she won’t run for reelection in 2022. That followed the finding by the county’s independent inspector general that an unnamed elected official — later confirmed to be Sims — retaliated against an employee for reporting sexual misconduct. At the time, the longtime commissioner had little to say to the Tribune about the watchdog investigation other than: “Everything is a learning experience. It’s over. I have nothing to say about it.”

       Richard Dvorak, lawyer for the woman who filed the complaint, countered this week that “it wasn’t over for my client.”

       “I don’t think (Sims) learned anything from this,” Dvorak said. “She certainly doesn’t sound like she learned the lesson. She doesn’t sound like she’s contrite, and I think that’s a wholly inadequate response.”

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       According to the EEOC complaint from the former aide, Sims’ chief of staff made “sexually predatory” advances toward her that started in September 2016 and “continued even more aggressively as time passed.” The complaint identifies the chief of staff as Sims’ boyfriend. Sims did not address the nature of their relationship in her statement, nor did the inspector general’s public summary of the investigation.

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       The first instance happened, according to the EEOC complaint, when the chief of staff said he wanted to offer an “extra pair of hands” during the aide’s physical therapy sessions for a medical condition. From that fall to early spring 2017, the chief of staff told the aide on three occasions that he “would like to engage in oral sex with her,” the complaint states.

       “The Complainant was frightened, humiliated, and degraded by this behavior,” the document reads, adding that she “verbally and physically rejected” the chief of staff’s advances.

       Then, the chief of staff began ignoring the aide’s phone calls, lying about meetings being canceled, and bad-mouthing her to Sims, according to the complaint. In May 2017, Sims questioned the aide about the staff member’s fraying relationship with the chief of staff, leading to the aide reporting that he sexually harassed her, the complaint states.

       The aide and her husband then met with Sims and the chief of staff, who “hung his head” as the aide detailed her experiences and presented texts she received from him, the complaint says.

       After the meeting, Sims called the aide’s husband and claimed the aide was encouraging the chief of staff’s advances, says the complaint, which also asserted Sims at one point “cruelly” disparaged the aide’s marriage with her late husband in a conversation with the aide’s child.

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       When the watchdog report came out in July, Sims, through her spokesman, told the Tribune she accepted the inspector general’s findings and “does not condone any form of sexual harassment or retaliation.”

       Months later, Sims fired the aide, saying “the office was moving in a different direction,” according to the complaint. Sims later announced she will not run for reelection. But to the aide, “this was flimsy pretext” for what appeared to be retaliation, the complaint says.

       Howard confirmed the aide is no longer on Sims’ payroll but did not comment on why, citing a personnel matter. Dvorak provided paperwork appearing to confirm his client was terminated.

       Sims, in her statement, noted the aide first filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights that was dismissed. However, the state agency declined to pursue the case because it lacked jurisdiction, according to a copy of the dismissal.

       The aide’s EEOC complaint says she has suffered depression and weight loss and now requires therapy and anti-anxiety medication, which she attributes to her ordeal at work and loss of her job.

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       “Her well-being has been suffering for a while,” Dvorak said, “The kicker was getting fired. I mean, it’s so obvious why she was fired. … That definitely took a toll on her.”

       ayin@chicagotribune.com

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