Fitness Trainer Accuses Former Joliet Park District Director of Sexual Assault, Files Federal Lawsuit

JOLIET, Ill. — The former director of the Joliet Park District was sued by a fitness instructor who accused him of sexually assaulting her.

Jeanetta Matichak, 39, named former Director Dominic Egizio and the park district as defendants in her federal lawsuit.

Matichak, who has been on medical leave since May 2015, according to the lawsuit, started working at the park district in July 2011. The married mother of three said Egizio, 50, “began to make unwelcome sexual comments” to her, “such as, ‘Come over here so I can check out your ass,’” the lawsuit said, and within months of her hire “began making sexual advances toward” her.

Egizio resigned from the park district in October amid a reported investigation of his allegedly inappropriate conduct.

While Matichak rebuffed Egizio’s advances, he persisted, the lawsuit said, and “gave Ms. Matichak gifts, including lingerie, clothing, perfume, a sex toy,” and other unspecified presents.

Egizio also “repeatedly made offensive, lewd, and vulgar sexual comments to Ms. Matichak,” the suit said, such as asking “what color panties she was wearing,” telling “her that he fantasized about her and masturbated thinking about her every day,” and talking “about his penis size and badger(ing) her to discuss his penis size.”

He also exposed his genitals to her and tried to kiss her, the suit said.

In March 2015, the suit said, Matichak gave Egizio a letter, telling him it was from her husband and that it said to leave her alone.

Egizio “slammed the letter down on his desk, clenched his fists, and in a loud, angry, menacing tone, threatened her husband’s position as a police officer with the City of Joliet,” the lawsuit said.

“He stated, ‘If he’s going to mess with me, I’m going to mess with his job. I can get anything done to him,’” the suit said. “Egizio said ‘I have a lot of connections’ and specifically named a former Joliet Chief of Police and a prominent Park District sponsor. “

Matichak accompanied Egizio to a hotel four times in April 2015, the lawsuit said.

“At the hotels, Defendant Egizio plied her with alcoholic drinks and when she became impaired by the alcohol, he demanded that she engage in sexual relations,” the suit said.

“On the final occasion that Defendant Egizio took Ms. Matichak to a hotel, Egizio kept urging her to drink so much alcohol that she experienced a partial black-out,” the suit said. “After he finished his sexual assault and as they left the hotel, she broke down sobbing.”

Matichak suffered a nervous breakdown because of Egizio and was hospitalized in May 2015, the suit said.