Union Boss Knew About Sexual Harassment, Demoted Accuser: Lawsuit

CHICAGO — A federal civil rights lawsuit accuses a powerful union boss of retaliating against a woman who lodged sexual harassment allegations against a supervisor.

James Sweeney, leader of the clout-heavy International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 — who was appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to the Illinois Tollway board — allegedly knew of a female employee's report that a union supervisor forced her to perform sex acts and, ultimately, demoted the woman for "complaining" of being sexually harassed, according to the complaint.

Former Local 150 employees Tanya Brandenburg and Eva Trudeau say they each faced "continuous sexual harassment and gender discrimination" at a union training facility in Wilmington and were retaliated against after lodging complaints, according to court papers.

The 43-page complaint filed in November against IUOE Local 150, affiliated organizations, business representative Stan Simrayh and training coordinator Brian Roland alleges sexual harassment and discrimination have been "widely known problems for women" working in a "boys club" culture within the Local 150 organization for decades.

In June 2018, Trudeau filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that also alleged she witnessed other Local 150 female employees report sexual harassment to top union officials.

Trudeau claimed that at a January 2018 union meeting attended by members of the executive board — including Sweeney, Simrayh, Roland and union lawyer Dale Pierson — a fellow female employee reported that male employees had touched her "on the buttocks." Trudeau alleged that Sweeney ejected the woman from the meeting, and male union members "openly mocked and shamed" her as she was escorted from the room, according to the EEOC complaint.

"It has to stop. We're at an age and day and time, where it has to stop," Trudeau told Patch. "I would like more women to come forward. And I'm pretty sure more women have been abused by them and assaulted by them. They think they're above the law."

Attorneys representing Local 150, Simrayh and Roland filed responses to the court filing that denied the allegations. Sweeney, who is not a named defendant in the lawsuit, did not reply to requests for an interview.

Attorney Alisa B. Arnoff, who represents Local 150's Apprenticeship Fund and Roland, said that in 2018 Sweeney ordered an independent law firm to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the allegations. After a seven-month probe, the investigator hired by the union determined there was "no evidence to support allegations of unlawful sexual harassment or retaliation."

Arnoff declined to name the law firm that conducted the investigation. "Due to the ongoing litigation, the findings of the investigation will not be released," she said.

Arnoff said in a statement that her clients believe "the specific complaints in this lawsuit, filed in November 2020, lack merit."

Brandenburg alleged in court papers that she told Local 150's independent investigator in early 2018 that she was the subject of continuing sexual harassment and a hostile work experience, according to court papers. After lodging that complaint Brandenburg was terminated, according to the lawsuit.

Trudeau told Patch that she too was interviewed as part of Local 150's investigation and was not surprised by the findings. "When you hire someone and pay them off, they're going to write a report in their favor," she said.

Brandenburg and Trudeau claim they were victims of unwanted touching, battery and assault, and subjected to unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and the target of jeers, lewd comments and "cat calls." Supervisors allegedly showed the women pornography at work, according to court papers.

Trudeau alleged in the complaint that she was "required to have sex and perform sexual acts with her supervisor", business representative Stan Simrayh, "as a term and condition of her employment." Trudeau claimed Simrayh, told her "women don't make it here" and it was a "privilege" for her to work an office job. On occasions when Trudeau ignored Simrayh's demands for sex, he threatened to harm Trudeau, her husband or himself. Simrayh allegedly told Trudeau it was Sweeney's decision to demote her, the lawsuit alleges.

In a written response to the lawsuit, Simrayh denied Trudeau's allegations, saying he lacked "knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief" about the truth of the claims, according to court papers. Simrayh's lawyer, Kevin Borozan, who also represents Local 150, did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Trudeau also accused Local 150's recording-corresponding secretary Steve Cisco, of using an offer of driving her to her car after a golf outing as a ruse to solicit a sex act. According to the lawsuit, Cisco drove Trudeau to a commercial building, where he allegedly exposed himself and demanded oral sex. When she refused, Cisco masturbated in front of her, according to allegations in court papers.

Brandenburg claimed in the lawsuit and a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in August 2018 alleging that Local 150 training coordinator Mike Rorex attempted to kiss her at work, and that another co-worker, Brian Roland, intentionally rubbed Brandenburg's arm in a "sexual way." When she rebuffed his advances, Roland "became aggressive and violent toward Brandenburg, cut Brandenburg’s clothes and stabbed Brandenburg’s exercise ball with a knife," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also claims that Roland hired an exotic dancer that he met at a strip club to serve as his "office assistant," bragged about it and "condoned male employees pressuring the female worker to perform a strip-show in the workplace break room during work hours."

Brandenburg and Trudeau claim they each reported the sexual harassment to their supervisors and, ultimately, Sweeney, the union boss, only to have their complaints ignored, according to the lawsuit.

Trudeau claimed in court papers that supervisor Mark Kara told her "If [sexual harassment] was that bad, I would just quit." She claimed Pierson, Local 150's top lawyer, didn't take action to address her complaints. In early 2018, Trudeau said she informed Sweeney — the Local 150 president — that she continued to experience sexual harassment, according to the lawsuit.

Trudeau claimed Sweeney told her he was aware of her accusations against Simrayh, "and those complaints were the real reason" she was being "written up at work," according to a complaint filed with the EEOC.

Local 150's "anti-harassment and non-discrimination policy" includes a provision that recognizes false accusations as a "form of harassment subject to remedial action."

The anti-harassment policy requires an "effective thorough and objective" investigation of allegations to come to a "reasonable conclusion." Final decisions on how the union responds to harassment allegations are to be made by Sweeney, in his role as union president/ business manager, according to the policy.