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| Alaina Hampton is taking Michael Madigan and the Democrats in Illinois to court. Photo provided by Kulwin, Masciopinto & Kulwin law firm |
ALAINA
HAMPTON FILED her lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago late Wednesday, and
Thursday morning met with TV-types to ensure that everybody knew all about her
legal action.
She
claims the fact that she resisted sexual advances by higher-ranking Madigan
operatives essentially killed her chances of rising professionally within the
Democratic Party ranks, where she worked in a number of roles and campaigns
from 2012-17.
One
such operative, Kevin Quinn (whose brother is the alderman of the Chicago ward
in which Madigan lives) has already been publicly dismissed because of his
behavior – which amounts to not being able to recognize that “no” means “no!”
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| Is there a political path from Fritchey loss ... |
In
fact, another Madigan aide also has lost his job as a result of sexual
harassment allegations.
WHICH
HAS MADIGAN-types insisting there’s no problem. The Illinois House speaker
learned of allegations, had them investigated, and wound up removing people
from their politically-influential positions upon learning of their truth.
Which
is true (sort of). Madigan has hired an attorney, Heather Wier Vaught, to look
into such matters, and she was the one who uncovered all the harassing and sexually-suggestive
e-mail messages that Quinn had sent to Hampton.
But
Hampton has implied that it took Madigan quite a while to get off his keister and
initiate some action; almost as though he was hoping the problem would go away
if it were ignored long enough.
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| ... to eventual Madigan demise? |
That
ultimately is going to be the issue that will be decided in both this lawsuit,
and an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint that Hampton filed in
February.
WHAT
I FIND most interesting about the Hampton situation is how she has managed to
cope with the circumstances her professional life has taken.
After
realizing she wasn’t going to have a work-life as part of the Democratic
organization, she turned herself into a political consultant for-hire who
during this most-recent election cycle worked for the campaign of Bridget Degnan.
She’s
the woman who ran for a seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners and
managed to win in Tuesday’s primary, defeating John Fritchey – who had been on the
county board since 2010.
While
I’m sure she can use the money from a lawsuit or eventual settlement, I don’t
doubt the biggest desire of Hampton and those people most enthusiastically
supporting her is to create bits of political embarrassment that could force
political change.
PERHAPS
EVEN CAUSING enough embarrassment to put the political pressure on Madigan himself?
I’m not certain this can stretch out that far – mostly because I believe the
people inclined to want to dump Madigan are also going to have their own
ideological hang-ups that would cause them to want to dismiss the significance
of sexual harassment.
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| DEGNAN: First victory for Hampton? |
Trying
to make Madigan an enabler of people who can’t keep their hands to themselves
amongst women might be too much of a stretch. I’m not sure I see a connection
that can be drawn from Fritchey’s demise to the dreams of “Dump Madigan!” that Gov.
Bruce Rauner and his biggest fanatics will be spewing forth in coming months.
For
her part, Hampton said Thursday she is hoping this encourages other women who have
suffered harassment to come forth. “They are watching closely to see how my
case is handled,” she said.
While
also watching closely will be Madigan & Co., watching to see if the issue
is capable of gaining any traction between now and the Nov. 6 general election.
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