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* From a JB Pritzker Medium column on October 25, 2017…
It starts with this — looking the women in the eye who come forward and testify about a culture of harassment and abuse and saying three words: “I believe you.” Far too often, this doesn’t happen — yet it must if we want real change in workplace culture.
* JB Pritzker today…
To be clear, this is just not true. I am incredibly proud of our campaign, how diverse it is, and how inclusive our administration will be.
To be clear, four of the ten plaintiffs in this lawsuit are women.
* Then again, most of the retweets and “likes” today on this African-American campaign staffer’s tweet late last night are from fellow Team Pritzker members…
Working on @JBPritzker campaign has been the experience of a lifetime. Quote me on that. 21 days till Illinois gets the Gov we deserve.
— joshua doss (@runJamierun7) October 17, 2018
* Meanwhile, from a press release…
Following a lawsuit alleging discrimination and harassment by the Pritzker campaign, Governor Rauner made the following statement while speaking to the press:
“I think it’s troubling, these allegations are serious. They need to be investigated. I think the people of Illinois deserve to know the truth about Pritzker’s actions.
“…Unfortunately, this seems to be a pattern with Mr. Pritzker. I don’t think anyone should be surprised, as you all know, he was caught on the FBI wiretaps, on the phone with Blagojevich. He was trying use his inheritance to buy elected office. He used the language of racists in that phonecall. He was on tape using the language of racists. And he very specifically called African-American elected officials ‘offensive.’ So I am not sure that anybody should be surprised that his campaign may have engaged in discriminatory practices.”
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:24 pm
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Very disturbing about Mr. Pritzker if true. On the other hand, that doesn’t change the fact that Gov. Rauner doesn’t have the skills to do his job (The Daily Herald’s words, not mine. BTW, since when do Republicans worry about racism. The leader of their party is openly a bigot.
Comment by Maestro Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:28 pm
As a “white male,” why is Rauner talking about racism?
Comment by Precinct Captain Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:29 pm
===To be clear, four of the ten plaintiffs in this lawsuit are women.===
Are any of them alleging sexual harassment or assault?
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:31 pm
This story would be everywhere non-stop if it were a republicans campaign that was being sued by a group of minorities for discrimination..
Comment by Hypocritcal Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:35 pm
As a Dem, I think Rauner is responding quite well. I would rather have a governor who admits there is still work to be done than a governor who is being accused of being discriminatory and is cheating taxpayers out of $330,000.
Maybe Bruce has work to do and things to learn, but he is not offending groups of minorities or thinking he is above paying taxes like the rest of us.
If this is coming out about JB, there is a lot more to come out about him, I’m sure. And I would rather have it come out now than after he is our governor.
Comment by Dem Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:35 pm
=== if it were a republicans campaign that was being sued by a group of minorities for discrimination..===
The Republican campaigns would actually have to hire minorities for this to happen. 250 comments (seems like half from Oswego Willy) aren’t enough for you? Don’t worry, it’s only 2:30.
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:38 pm
Meanwhile, Rauner has no appetite or interest in the multi-million dollar furniture building lease ripoff. Methinks Rauner’s not blind trust must have gotten a taste.
Comment by Al Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:38 pm
=he very specifically called African-American elected officials ‘offensive.’ =
As a white male, I find a great number of caucasian and orange elected officials offensive.
Comment by Skyfall in Fast Forward Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:39 pm
I believe very few people without corroboration.
Comment by Last Bull Moose Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:45 pm
** As a “white male,” why is Rauner talking about racism? **
Anyone of any color can be a racist, what’s your point ?
Comment by MWNMNWWNM Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:50 pm
Using rauner logic. Then we shouldn’t be surprised if he holds the budget hostage for another 3 years if re-elected?
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 2:56 pm
===Anyone of any color can be a racist, what’s your point ? ===
It’s a call back to when Rauner (through communications staff) refused to comment on a racist cartoon because he is a “white male”
Comment by Anon Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:00 pm
===(seems like half from Oswego Willy)===
I dunno about “half”…
Do you think they’ve handled their business well? Pick any of the choices.
With respect.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:09 pm
===Do you think they’ve handled their business well?===
They weren’t clairvoyant. A bunch of amateurs if you ask me. How could they not see this coming?
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:13 pm
===A bunch of amateurs if you ask me. How could they not see this coming?===
I guess communicating grievances and feeling you’re not heard then escalating, I’m sure there was a blindsiding of sorts.
Had they addressed grievences and followed up, maybe things could be different.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:17 pm
===A bunch of amateurs if you ask me. How could they not see this coming?===
… the property tax issue, for example, was seen for months and months and months.
Not arguing with ya, much respect as always, but it’s a pattern.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:23 pm
===Had they addressed grievences and followed up, maybe things could be different===
Most of the plaintiffs had been on the payroll for about 90 days. I think when the dust settles and the court gets involved, you’ll find that nothing the Pritzker campaign could do would have changed this.
I look forward to pointing that out to you. But I promise, I’ll only do so once.
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:26 pm
===Most of the plaintiffs had been on the payroll for about 90 days.===
You can’t feel that your grievances aren’t being answered when you’re only somewhere 90 days?
How many days do you have to be somewhere for the grievances…
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:28 pm
OW, 90 days, or less for the staffer hired in September, is a very short time. Like, if you had a grievance on day 1 the whole process had to play out, and you be unhappy with the process, in a couple of months? That’s tight.
Comment by Perrid Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:43 pm
@Hypocritical
I’m a little confused because I’ve seen coverage of this story everywhere today. How would it be different if it were a Republican?
@Dem
I definitely hear what you’re say about Pritzker. I have a lot of thinking to do. However, I disagree with what you said about Rauner not offending anyone. First,I point you to this story: https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/sources-rauner-ousts-new-communications-team-after-white-male-flap/
And second, his policies as well as the budget gridlock disproportionately affect folks of color.
As to the post, I don’t think the fact that staffers are liking the comment from another AA woman working on Pritzker’s team necessarily negate the plaintiffs’ allegations. From my–limited admittedly–understanding of campaign structure the local hubs can have a lot of leeway. The discriminatory actions could be from a couple bad actors at these local offices. That would go a long way to explaining why some staffers feel discriminated against while others don’t.
At any rate, these allegations should be taken seriously & not just dismissed because they asked for a lot of money. Sometimes the only way to change an organization’s culture is to hit them in the pocketbook.
Comment by Chicago_Downstater Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:44 pm
As Rich pointed out, this lawsuit is unprecedented and I smell a rat.
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:45 pm
===… if you had a grievance on day 1 the whole process had to play out, and you be unhappy with the process, in a couple of months? That’s tight.===
It’s not my lawsuit, I’m not the aggrieved party, from the reading, they felt their concerns were ignored and not communicated, and now they went to a lawsuit.
I thought handling things nimbly is a hallmark of any campaign. Communications too.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:46 pm
===…this lawsuit is unprecedented and I smell a rat.===
Could be. Getting 10 people in a conspiracy like this, or another campaign orchestrating it, that too would be unprecedented here in Illinois.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:51 pm
Also, I’m not sure if this belongs here, but I really worry about the chilling effect this story could have on people of color who might otherwise be inclined to join campaigns in the future. There’s already a huge gap between political representation and race and gender (especially where race and gender intersect), and I’d hate for it to get bigger bc Dems like myself didn’t show the same support to finding the truth in these allegations as we do for other issues. This potential chilling effect is more serious than any one election, and it should be talked about at some point.
Comment by Chicago_Downstater Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 3:53 pm
Funny how these people would wait until 21 days before the election to file a complaint. This does not pass the smell test.
Comment by Mama Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 4:18 pm
Who is paying for their lawsuit? Funny how they are all suing together. Are Rauner’s campaign funds being used to pay for this lawsuit?
Comment by M Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 4:24 pm
Dig deep I’m sure Rauner will be behind this somehow. Too weird to not be
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 4:27 pm
===Dig deep I’m sure Rauner will be behind this somehow. Too weird to not be===
Why not an attorney looking to make a name and some cash?
Why not some campaign workers whose expectations were too high and not met?
Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 4:33 pm
==Funny how these people would wait until 21 days before the election to file a complaint. This does not pass the smell test==
Funny how when I said virtually the same thing about Ford’s allegations against Kavenaugh, I was chastised.
But just as I said about Ford, I have no idea whether these allegations are true, but they deserve to be investigated thoroughly and impartially. Being a fair person, I’m sure you agree.
Comment by Stuntman Bob's Brother Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 4:53 pm
So can we expect another WBEZ Quincy story,or Lisa Madigan press conference, or Jesse White taking Rauner’s driver’s license, or Mendoza statement about whatever new issue she has in the next couple of days? The Treasurer’s office has been quiet lately, maybe it’s his turn.
Comment by Reserved Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 6:04 pm
How many days do you have to be somewhere for the grievances…
-90 or more days is about the time most eeo complaints are investigated. Most of these plaintiffs have been on the job 90 days, that’s not even enough time to get evidence to show that white colleagues were treated differently. That’s not enough time to surely state the only mostly black workers are put in black neighborhoods. The plantiffs would need to have been there for more than 90 days to even truly witness to that. Even the primary was more than 90 days ago. This smells of rat.
Comment by Real Wednesday, Oct 17, 18 @ 10:12 pm
I’m so sick (and tired) of Rauner’s ad that has audio of JB and Blago talking about whatever. The ad says the audio is “unedited”. #1, I don’t believe one word that Rauner says and #2, how do we know it is unedited? It is obviously edited because parts of it keep repeating. So if Rauner has edited that much of it, why should we not believe that the entire ad has been cut and pasted? This lawsuit simply does not pass the smell test. I was waiting for a November surprise from Rauner. His campaign staff outdid themselves with this mid October surprise. Rauner’s not smart enough to think up this one by himself.
Comment by Little Egypt Thursday, Oct 18, 18 @ 9:45 am
I’m personally disappointed that, with all the cash being dropped on political consultants, this is the best they could come up with (for *either side*).
Comment by Ed Higher Thursday, Oct 18, 18 @ 10:49 am