Joliet's HR Director Kathy Franson Improperly Fired Woman: Lawsuit

JOLIET — Tamara Edmonson, a former city of Joliet employee in the finance department, has filed a federal lawsuit against her former employer, naming Joliet's human resources director Kathy Franson, finance director Kevin Sing and ex-city manager Jim Capparelli as defendants.

The lawsuit accuses the city of Joliet officials of Family Medical Act Leave interference, Family Medical Act Leave retaliation and violating the Americans With Disabilities Act. Attorney Annemarie Kill of Chicago law firm of Avery Kill is representing Edmondson.

"On information and belief, Defendants Capparrelli, Franson, and Sing were all involved in the decision to terminate Plaintiff," the lawsuit reads. "Defendants failed to accommodate Plaintiff’s work restrictions. In fact, they engaged in no interactive process at all regarding her request."

Legal counsel representing the city of Joliet and its three city officials being sued in the case have not filed any appearance in Chicago's U.S. District Court, so far.

According to last month's filing in federal court, the following allegations were raised by the plaintiff's lawyer against the city of Joliet defendants:

First, back in December 2018, Edmonson was hired by Joliet as a finance department accountant. By July 2021, she took over the position of grants coordinator in the finance department and "received raises during her employment and always met or exceeded the legitimate performance expectations of her employer," the lawsuit noted.

Edmonson, however, began to suffer health ailments around December 2020, including severe pinched nerves in her neck. On May 24, 2021, she underwent surgery known as anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. Edmonson later required an additional surgical procedure known as a cervical spine fusion. On Aug. 9, 2022, Edmonson submitted her request for 12 weeks of Family Medical Leave Act for the spinal fusion, her lawsuit explained.

By Oct. 2, 2022, Edmonson's doctor released her to work remotely. Before the surgeries, she had a desk job with the city of Joliet, mostly working at a computer. The lawsuit pointed out that "many other employees worked remotely and/or reduced schedules throughout plaintiff’s employment."

Edmonson sent an email to Capparelli on Oct. 2 asking for permission to return to work by working remotely. According to the lawsuit, the next day, Capparelli sent Edmonson an email saying, “Your request to work from home is denied.”

At that point, Edmonson remained off work using her remaining FMLA leave, according to her lawyer. Then, on Nov. 16, 2022, Finance Director Sing denied Edmonson's request seeking to work no more than five hours per day, four days a week, until her next doctor's appointment the following month.

The lawsuit noted that Edmonson was notified by Sing that Joliet "does not allow part-time work and she could only return to work if she was able to work full-time."

Two days later, Edmonson filed a written complaint regarding her initial request to work remotely and her second request to work a reduced schedule, and none of the city's staff responded to her requests.

Then, on Nov. 30, 2022, Franson, the HR director, notified Edmonson she was being fired and "no reason was given for her termination," court records noted. By Dec. 5, 2022, Edmondson sent an email to Franson seeking reasons for her firing.

On Dec. 7, 2022, Franson sent Edmonson an email informing her "there were a few items discussed leading up to the decision: your inability to return to the office to work full time; reporting concerns; etc," the lawsuit outlined. "Plaintiff had no knowledge of 'reporting concerns.' In fact, she still does not know what that term means, and she had never been disciplined at any time regarding alleged 'reporting concerns' or anything else."

The Chicago law firm representing Edmonson has asked that a federal judge reinstate their client to the same or equivalent position as she had before her FMLA leave and grant Edmonson a judgment for back-pay, back benefits, front pay and benefits, compensatory damages, and interest and award Edmonson reasonable attorneys fees and costs.