Lawsuits mount in dispute between fired Madison County officials, treasurer
Another lawsuit has been filed by a former Madison County official who was fired in 2019.
Former Madison County Information Technology Director Rob Dorman filed suit against Treasurer Chris Slusser, alleging that Slusser failed to fulfill a Freedom of Information request asking for emails between Slusser and Illinois Senator Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, from Dec. 2017 to Sep. 2020.
The suit alleges Slusser responded to the request in Sept. 2020, stating there were no records available from the Yahoo account.
Dorman is asking the court to determine if Slusser violated the Freedom of Information Act and if so, that the records be produced and Slusser levied penalties for denying the request. Dorman is representing himself in the lawsuit.
Slusser called Dorman’s recently filed lawsuit “frivolous” and said the emails that were being requested were strictly personal between two friends.
“This is yet another frivolous lawsuit filed by a disgraced county official. This is already reviewed by the attorney general’s office and they denied his request and ruled against him,” Slusser said. “These are personal emails that had nothing to do with my job and I’m not required to make them public.”
Dorman and Hulme were accused of accessing employee emails for political gain and leveraging information in a pay-for-play scheme. The Illinois Attorney General’s office declined to file charges, but the county board voted to fire the two after details from the investigation came to light.
Latest of many lawsuits
The filing is the latest of several lawsuits filed by Dorman and former County Administrator Doug Hulme, who were both fired by the Madison County Board in April 2020.
Dorman’s latest filing is the second lawsuit directed at Slusser specifically. Hulme filed suit against him in August 2020 alleging that Slusser made false statements during the two-year investigations. The suit was dismissed in November.
The pair also recently filed a joint lawsuit against the cities of Alton, Edwardsville, Granite City and Collinsville, whose police officers participated in Madison County’s anti-corruption take force that led to the county’s firing of the two in April 2020.
In that lawsuit, Dorman and Hulme allege the task force “intentionally and unjustifiable” caused them to be fired and alleged officers on the tasks force made “unsupported accusations of improper conduct.”
In addition, the lawsuit states that officers persuaded members of the county board to fire the two men. That lawsuit seeks damages from the four cities in excess of $50,000.
The county board just this week replaced Dorman and Hulme with new appointments. Community Development Administrator Dave Tanzyus was appointed as county administrator and interim Information Technology Director Chris Bethel was appointed to the post permanently.
Two-year investigation led to dismissals
Affidavits from the Illinois attorney general’s investigation, obtained by the Belleville News-Democrat, reflected further testimony that Hulme and Dorman accessed the emails of county employees and elected officials to gain political leverage and that printers were installed in county offices that could alert them of what was being printed.
“(Slusser) testified in February of 2017 that a Madison county employee by the name of Doug Hulme bragged about having evidence of circuit judge using county resources for political fundraising,” a search warrant complaint from the investigation read. “When Slusser confronted Hulme on how he obtained this evidence, he alluded that they have access to everyone’s emails.”
Slusser also testified that Hulme had told him he wanted GPS devices put on all county vehicles so Dorman could monitor them.
There also were accusations of intimidation, according to investigation documents.
Through an affidavit, former Madison County Board Member Lisa Ciampoli testified about “improper activity” by Dorman, who she said interfered when she tried to file a petition to run for precinct committeeman, an office for which Dorman’s father was also running.
She said during one encounter, Dorman attempted to swipe filing paperwork from the clerk’s hands. According to the unsealed documents, investigators believed video surveillance footage corroborated that accusation.
While the task force’s investigation did not result in criminal charges, the two men were fired, with just one member of the county board voting against their dismissal.
Several members of the Madison County Board brought the allegations forth, citing documents from a state investigation. The two were fired for being “outside the bounds of ethical conduct and standard,” the resolution that led to their firing read.
The board members, citing the documents, also accused the Hulme and Dorman of:
Initiating a “scheme” to hack into and spy on emails of the Madison County judiciary and offices of elected county officials for political purpose;
Compromising victim information, releasing sensitive and legally privileged information regarding ongoing cases;
Reviewing emails of judges and giving access to a non-employee to conduct searches of county email for campaign purposes.
At the time, Hulme said the county board’s decision did not give him “due process” and called it a mistake. He said he planned to appeal the decision through the courts. Dorman also said he disagreed with the board’s decision.
This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 7:30 AM.