Dolton mayor retaliated against opponents, according to 3 new lawsuits
DOLTON, Ill. — The embattled leader of two south suburban governments is being accused improperly firing three employees who refused orders to retaliate against her political opponents or failed to show sufficient loyalty.
Tiffany Henyard is the mayor of Dolton and supervisor of Thornton Township. WGN Investigates has reported extensively on concerns over her lavish spending, leadership style and lack of transparency.
Samysha Williams was the head of Dolton’s permit and licensing department until August of 2022 when her lawsuit claims she was wrongfully terminated after refusing orders to link campaign donations with the village permitting and licensing process.
“Henyard instructed Williams to withhold permits to Dolton residents and business owners unless they donated to Henyard’s campaign,” Williams lawsuit reads.
Several residents, business owners and even the village’s former police chief have told WGN Investigates they felt loyalty was a litmus test for Henyard.
Soon after Henyard took office in April of 2021, several Dolton trustees began questioning her spending and demanded further accountability and transparency. Williams’ lawsuit said Henyard would openly tell village employees “we’re at war with trustees” and instructed them to deny trustees’ requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act.
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“The people that supported her didn’t have any issues with getting things they need,” Williams said in an interview with WGN-TV. “Talk to her, get meetings. The people she didn’t want to have licenses or go along with her or support her couldn’t get a meeting, couldn’t get permits. They couldn’t get anything.”
The lawsuit claims the antagonism went further when she was asked to practice muting opposing trustees’ microphones ahead of meetings.
“You have employees who didn’t go along with the program and if there’s any type of perceived disloyalty, they’re let go,” Williams’ attorney, Matthew Custardo, said.
A second lawsuit filed by Karen Johnson, a Dolton public works assistant, said she was fired for refusing to do campaign work while on the job. Henyard asked Dolton employees to campaign on her behalf, go door-to-door and make calls “while at work and during working hours,” Johnson’s lawsuit alleges.
Johnson said pressure built as negative stories about Henyard began to appear in the media including a report that a sex offender was hired as a code enforcement officer. Johnson’s lawsuit said she was fired for violating Dolton’s policy on computer use after she looked-up information about.
A third lawsuit has been filed by Sandra Tracy, who was the manager of Thornton Township’s human resources department.
Tracy claims soon after Henyard was appointed supervisor in 2022 she demanded “dirt” on all township employees. She said she refused because sharing some information would violate employees’ privacy rights.
Tracy said she was soon demoted and locked-out of the township building. The lawsuit claims Tracy continued to work from her car in the township building’s parking lot or at home for the next three months.
The Whitley Agency, which handles public relations for Dolton and Thornton Township, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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