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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
The more I read it, the more skeptical I became of the racial discrimination lawsuit filed against the J.B. Pritzker campaign by 10 current and former field-level workers last week.
The initial demand for $7.5 million in one business day along with personal recommendations from Pritzker himself in exchange for their silence really hurts their claims in my eyes. The suit itself seemed hastily and sloppily drafted. The lawyers even spelled “Pritzker” wrong. Beyond that, other things look fishy.
Only one of the field organizers who sued has been on the campaign longer than two to five months (one was on staff just a few days). And yet the lawsuit complains about their lack of promotions and advancement in the campaign. That’s really odd. Who gets a job promotion after a couple of months knocking on doors and putting events together? Heck, who even expects one?
A Democratic family in Peoria was apparently so enthusiastic about supporting J.B. Pritzker that they offered to put up a campaign staffer in their home … only to reject that staffer because she was black? That sounds highly unusual.
And then the staffer had to sleep in her car until the campaign found her a hotel in “an unsafe part of town.” The campaign (which has broken a national campaign spending record, mind you) then wouldn’t move her because of a tight budget, so she quit? That appeared improbable to me.
The Pritzker campaign provided receipts to the Peoria Journal Star showing the campaign and a local party official paid for five different hotel rooms for that staffer over just seven days, and more than one room on some days. She then went to a staff retreat for two days in the suburbs, she was provided a room in a Peoria supporter’s home the day after that and she quit the campaign the following day “effective immediately.”
The lawsuit claims that when the plaintiffs “asked why J.B. Pritzker did not visit their office, they were told that ‘he’ll visit when they stop shooting.’ ” The campaign kept records of Pritzker’s 10 Chicago field office visits, however, and they show he visited every one of them a total of 31 times, except the two which opened in September, which his running mate visited. He visited the office listed in the lawsuit four times.
The lawsuit also alleges that a regional field director was “given a shiny new job title and pay raise,” but was “strongly encouraged” to cut off his dreadlocks, “therefore, he no longer comes across as crass and was the least offensive African American that could be put in that spot.”
Recognize that language? It’s a paraphrase of what Pritzker told Rod Blagojevich on those FBI surveillance tapes when he was trying to get him to appoint Secretary of State Jesse White to the U.S. Senate.
The dread-less staffer in question issued a statement on his Facebook account angrily denying that anyone had told him to cut his hair and even denying that he’d received a promotion and a raise.
But aside from all the very real problems and even sketchiness with this lawsuit, something must’ve happened. It’s not every day that 10 campaign staffers sue their employer for discrimination and retaliation a few weeks before an election. In fact, I don’t think anything like this has ever happened before in the history of American elections.
Would these young people really take a drastic step like this over absolutely nothing? I find that hard to believe.
Whatever the case, this should serve as a learning experience for Pritzker if he’s elected governor. A bomb unexpectedly exploded underneath him. As tempting as it is to just hire people, devise goals and metrics and then go focus on other things as long as everybody hits all their marks, he needs to make sure that the manner in which his managers are reaching their goals is also important.
If staff is being mistreated by middle and upper management, the responsibility ultimately falls on the big boss. And this time it fell on the top dog like a megaton of bricks. He’s got a double-digit lead, so he’ll likely survive it, although the plaintiffs’ lawyers are saying more people could be added to the suit.
But not paying close enough attention when you’re a governor can get people killed. Pritzker ought to know this because he’s been blasting Gov. ruce Rauner’s “fatal mismanagement” of the Quincy veterans’ home for months.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 9:06 am
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Political and business organizations operate very differently. They both require some of the same skill set but the application of it is critical. As more non-politicians are elected to office, understanding this concept becomes crucial. Rauner clearly never acknowledged that reality and it’s going to cost him re-election. The key is whether these corporate executives are willing to learn so they can be effective government leaders.
Comment by Cubs in '16 Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 9:22 am
===If staff is being mistreated by middle and upper management, the responsibility ultimately falls on the big boss. And this time it fell on the top dog like a megaton of bricks. He’s got a double-digit lead, so he’ll likely survive it, although the plaintiffs’ lawyers are saying more people could be added to the suit.
But not paying close enough attention when you’re a governor can get people killed. Pritzker ought to know this because he’s been blasting Gov. ruce Rauner’s “fatal mismanagement” of the Quincy veterans’ home for months.===
This is an ongoing pattern with the Pritzker Crew.
Be it their own oppo, boxing themselves in with exacting policy, now it’s personnel issues.
They wait til things fester in such a way…
Pritzker is spending $300K a day, since April 6, 2017.
That’s 538 houses, one each day, since April 6… 2017.
Not one person thought to check on how things were with staff?
Like it or not, you pay people, and they’re so disgruntled at hearing $300K a day is being spent, and they’re sleeping in their car, have rats in their offices, feel unheard, you get more than grumbling.
What does Pritzker’s Crew care? They’re up, it may have no effect on the campaign, a great many of the upper folks are campaign gypsies, moving from state to state, getting paid, getting their mail houses fed, their ad folks fed… so you have ground troops, looking at $164 million, and take a drastic step, I’m still waiting to hear about another campaign where 10 staffers sue 3 weeks out for… discrimination.
===“Being wealthy, I can have these type of issues far more than others. Money, and a want for it, makes people do things they might not normally do. That’s all I’ll say to this”===
Nope.
This is a pattern of gross negligence, that in the end won’t mean all too much as the winning camp will move to Iowa, or South Carolina, maybe New Hampshire… but Pritzker is gonna haveta govern. Pritzker “has” to stay, and the impression is “we let things blow up, then do damage control”. Not great.
I hope whoever is left and stays with JB to govern will take a real hard look at this pattern and govern with a better grasp of handling things quickly.
You just can’t donate $15 million to a campaign war chest when something happens in a agency. That’s not how governing works.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 9:23 am
– It’s not every day that 10 campaign staffers sue their employer for discrimination and retaliation a few weeks before an election. –
One explanation for that could be that it doesn’t make any sense, unless the objective is to harm the candidate at the polls.
I don’t think that was the case here. My conclusion is that this was a scatter-brained shakedown attempt by the Gang That Couldn’t Straight, an effort that doesn’t make any sense, for all the reasons in the column and more.
I guess they figured a multi-billionaire would shell out $7.5 million in mid-October to make it go away, quietly. But no politician could take that risk even for a nuisance suit, admitting wrongdoing before an election that would be sure to leak.
Once the shakedown didn’t work, filing the lawsuit, such as it is, also makes no sense at all. Pritzker has no choice but to fight it in the court of public opinion.
And that’s the only court he’ll have to fight it. This lawsuit, drafted on the school bus in crayon, will never see a real courtroom, and the plaintiffs will never see a dime.
Some incompetent, screwball lawyering by some snake-oil-peddling attorneys. That’s a reason why it doesn’t happen every day.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 9:30 am
Key parts of the suit does appear to be suspect. The suit reads like an obvious campaign hit piece. That said, the Pritzker campaign has to be accountable for and fix problems, now and if he gets elected. That should be a big part of Pritzker’s response.
Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 9:38 am
This is an excellent summary of how I’ve been feeling but unable to put into words. Something happened to make people feel disrespected, and it was pervasive enough to cause them to sue. The suit itself is overwrought with easily disprovable nonsensical allegations, unsubstantiated fluff, and things that probably are not actionable, but it doesn’t mean that the plaintiffs didn’t experience poor treatment. That treatment likely was worse than is typical of campaigns, due to the racial component, but at this point we don’t really know how much worse.
Pritzker needs to improve his detailed management if he becomes governor. A good staff is a first step.
Comment by Jibba Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 9:44 am
The lawsuit is written like ransom note. It deserves no more than quick once over and crumple up into ball and tossed in the garbage can. Let the signers lie under oath and take it from there.
Comment by DeseDemDose Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 9:50 am
Rich is spot on. JB needs to hire a quality team. That team can make or break his governorship.
Comment by Norseman Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 9:53 am
As long as everything about cause for the unserved lawsuit is speculative, I speculate it is the lawyer who came up with this shakedown. Nothing more.
Comment by My New Handle Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 10:09 am
Wordslinger has it right a shakedown. Maybe volunteers started with good intentions found work not that glamorous nor exciting. Then were slights and words real or imagined and into this mix road a junior King of Torts and it spun out of control. If they don’t watch it they may end up with J B’s legal bills
Comment by DuPage Saint Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 10:13 am
I don’t understand the assumptions made by some here that the Pritzker outfit is ‘obviously’ (my word) a big part of the problem relative to these accusers. Any large campaign would have/will have headaches like this if the standard for ‘discrimination’ is at the level of these residents of Shakedown Heights. Being accused doesn’t make you guilty. Being proven guilty makes you guilty, and so far we’ve only had feckless whiners making fools of themselves, rather than presenting evidence that would back their play.
Comment by Matts Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 10:33 am
===Any large campaign would have/will have headaches like this if the standard for ‘discrimination’ is at the level of these residents of Shakedown Heights.===
Too large?
Illinois has a $38+ billion dollar budget, dozens of agencies, thousands of state workers, and they can’t figure out 10 of 200 are so angry and dusgruntled that they’ll do something like this,
Dunno if that’s even more of an indictment of poor campaign management of personnel, but…
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 10:41 am
Wordslinger- I almost entirely agree with one exception, Erica Kimble. You don’t get that high up in SEIU without acquiring an organizers skill set. I believe she Organized and stoked the anger (for what purpose I cannot say) It is what I think started the chain of events that spiraled into the legal debacle. But the important fact for me is that they must know this hurts the candidate. It is willful. I just can’t imagine them being that detached from reality. If it is willful, then it must be to undermine Pritzker.
Comment by Hoplon Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 12:31 pm
Heads should roll in the Pritzker campaign.
#1 You don’t hire people who are going to sue first instead of resolving problems internally.
#2 If you hire proven quality people at higher than the going rate, you won’t have these kinds of problems.
Campaigns are regular occurrences. As long as campaigns are run as part of the “gig economy” by “campaign gypsies” this kind of avoidable B.S. will occur regularly.
Comment by James Knell Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 12:32 pm
===But not paying close enough attention when you’re a governor can get people killed. Pritzker ought to know this because he’s been blasting Gov. ruce Rauner’s “fatal mismanagement” of the Quincy veterans’ home for months.===
And several real lawsuits have been properly filed regarding Rauner’s incompetence at Quincy, as opposed to this shakedown.
Comment by PublicServant Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 12:36 pm
“Would these young people really take a drastic step like this over absolutely nothing? I find that hard to believe.”
It isn’t so hard to believe when someone is paying them to file this lawsuit.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 3:41 pm
==Heads should roll in the Pritzker campaign. #1 You don’t hire people who are going to sue first instead of resolving problems internally. and Campaigns are regular occurrences. As long as campaigns are run as part of the “gig economy” by “campaign gypsies” this kind of avoidable B.S. will occur regularly.==
To your first point…
I guess next time that question should be asked as part of the interview process (no, not really). And no, heads won’t roll because this suit is a sham, from the asking price to the refusal to serve it and constant media campaign they’re launching. No doubt some bad blood developed, but on every campaign there are people who disagree and some who get upset because they didn’t get what they wanted. That doesn’t mean wrongdoing was committed.
A lot of armchair quarterbacking here and probably by folks who have never run a campaign. Most of these plaintiffs are young and inexperienced, which makes them more vulnerable to a strong personality who likely was the ringleader of this (Little) and to the whims of a sketchy lawyer looking to make a name for himself.
To the second point…
Most campaigns are run by “campaign gypsies” and because they’re usually really good at what they do. Campaigns are almost always a mix of locals and folks who work from one campaign to the next and it’s been like that for only like decades.
Comment by Shytown Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 3:49 pm
===Most campaigns are run by “campaign gypsies” and because they’re usually really good at what they do.===
… except when they have a campaign with a “scheme to Defraud” and not managing their own oppo… or not really knowing if there are any more Blago tapes… how about continually stating policy to get dinged on exacting numbers because they boxed the policy… now it’s not handling personnel too great… how many campaigns have 10 people file a discrimination suit 3 weeks out?
===Most of these plaintiffs are young and inexperienced, which makes them more vulnerable to a strong personality who likely was the ringleader of this (Little) and to the whims of a sketchy lawyer looking to make a name for himself.===
Hmm…
So these vulnerable staffers were never checked on, so the bad guy can corrupt them so easily to sue, which is a career breaker… no, someone was asleep at the switch, not knowing the level of discontent is a fundamental failure.
===No doubt some bad blood developed, but on every campaign there are people who disagree and some who get pissed because they didn’t get what they wanted. That doesn’t mean wrongdoing was committed.===
.. but it led to 10 filing a federal lawsuit?
Gotta be able to manage personalities and a chain of command.
Oh, that too is a fundamental, not a “new age, 21st century” thingy.
Let’s hope the governing is better.
You can run a mediocre campaign and win… you run against the worst Republican AND the most vulnerable governor in America, you get lots of leeway. Governing not so much.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Oct 22, 18 @ 4:11 pm
–But aside from all the very real problems and even sketchiness with this lawsuit, something must’ve happened.–
An excellent summary (agree with @Jibba), and it expresses my thoughts, too, in a far more informed way, of course.
The sentence I’ve quoted is the key, I think.
“Something” happened - the question is, what?
On an earlier thread I had noted that around 6/10 of those filing the complaint were out-of-staters, from FL, AL, and MO. I’m wondering now if they weren’t provided sufficient orientation and training about operations on Chicago’s South and West sides (and about Peoria’s South side too).
I’m also wondering whether they weren’t hired specifically for the neighborhoods/areas they were assigned to, and whether this wasn’t fully clarified upon hiring/orientation.
There’s a lesson here, but it’s not one that can be learned/absorbed overnight: we’re about to have another phenomenally rich guy as our state’s CEO, a guy who seems to me really likable on a personal level from what I’ve seen and read, but who, frankly, is a philanthropist on a grand scale who’s a donor to political causes, not a politician.
He needs really, really experienced and sharp advisers who can professionally vet executive staff/recommend appointments, and who know what they’re doing.
Illinois needs an effective, professional and ethical administration - JB will be the CEO, but somebody has to figure out who’s going to surround him for the next four years.
Who - and where - are these people? I’m starting to feel like Diogenes, searching in vain for an “honest man” to save my state from itself.
Conclusion: JB’s going to need to be held to high standards from the get-go, and that includes his initial appointments.
Comment by dbk Tuesday, Oct 23, 18 @ 3:36 am