Dolton, Ill., Mayor Tiffany Henyard is facing new disturbing allegations after weeks of speculation around her reported misuse of taxpayer dollars.
According to NBC Chicago, the Illinois Department of Human Rights is investigating sexual harassment and retaliation complaints against Henyard, the Village of Dolton and Thornton Township.
Henyard was already under fire for allegations that she spent taxpayer funds on lavish trips and a $1 million personal police deal as the lower-income community’s bills continued to pile up unpaid. To make matters worse, Henyard vetoed an investigation into her spending, claiming the allegations against her were “fiction.”
Now, NBC Chicago is reporting that Henyard’s former assistant is alleging that she faced retaliation, sexual harassment and discrimination after she reported an allegedly non-consensual encounter with an unnamed Village trustee.
The local outlet obtained the complaint. Here is their summary:
After dinner, she said she started to feel disorientated and extremely light-headed, as if the ground was moving. She said she blacked out.
According to the complaint, the next morning, she woke up in the trustee’s hotel room with no memory of how she got there, experiencing physical discomfort.
She said after returning to Dolton, officer Byron Miles, who was part of Henyard’s security detail and who also went on that trip to Las Vegas, told her a trustee on the trip told him that the trustee had unprotected sex with her. Officer Miles has also filed a complaint with the Human Rights Department.
The woman stated in her complaint that after she was told this, she went immediately to seek medical care.
Both complaints then provide details of a meeting that took place the following day with the former assistant, Officer Miles and Mayor Henyard. At this meeting, the woman informed Henyard that she would never willingly have sex with the trustee.
Officer Miles informed Henyard and the woman that the trustee called him that night in Las Vegas. The trustee then bragged about the sexual activities he engaged in with the woman, Miles’ complaint says, suggesting that she may not have had the ability to consent or did not provide consent.
According to the complaint, Officer Miles recorded some of the conversation with his iPhone.
According to the complaints, the mayor said that if this information became public, she would be ruined. That all the work she’d done would be lost.
The ex-employee said the mayor told her she would take care of it and to trust her.
Days later, according to her complaint, the woman was put on unpaid medical leave, though she says she did not request to be put on leave.
She was later terminated.
Officer Miles alleged in the complaint that he was demoted to patrol duty for speaking out as a witness.
The village responded to the allegations denying any wrongdoing — stating that a third-party investigated and that the alleged victim refused to provide a statement or cooperate with the investigation.
“Unfortunately, this is nothing more than two disgruntled Village employees who are trying to make off with the taxpayers hard earned dollars. The Village looks forward to defending these allegations and pursuing all other available remedies to the village,” they wrote.
However, attorneys for Henyard’s former assistant and Officer Miles told NBC Chicago that he is still in the police department and that a criminal complaint would be forthcoming.
