Suspended Investigator Must Take Same 'Sensitivity Training' As Boss Who Punished Him

A county investigator suspended for making an off-color remark during mandatory sexual harassment training must attend the same “sensitivity training” as his boss, Will County Public Defender Frank Astrella.

Veteran Investigator Ivan Hurd was ordered into the “Employee Assistance Program, sensitivity training/counseling program” after a Chicago lawyer complained of his behavior during the office’s bi-annual sexual harassment class.

Astrella landed in the program when a pair of assistant public defenders accused him of actual sexual harassment, according to legal filings. The two assistants, Gail Bembnister and Kate Flynn, went on to sue Astrella in federal court.

Astrella failed to respond to a message asking whether he found the sensitivity training helpful. He has yet to publicly address the allegations of sexual harassment brought by Bembnister and Flynn.

In addition to requiring Hurd to successfully complete sensitivity training, Astrella also suspended him for two days without pay. Astrella has not said if he was suspended without pay over the accusations made by Bembnister and Flynn.

Hurd accused Astrella of disciplining him out of sheer malice born from years of resentment and bad blood. He also pointed out that Astrella recently announced his retirement, and suspects the timing factored into his boss’ decision to go after him.

Hurd said the attorney who ran the Oct. 23 training session, Matthew P. Kellam, singled him out of the dozens of non-managerial employees in the class and repeatedly asked him questions on hypothetical scenarios. The question that landed Hurd in hot water, he said, involved a man and woman meeting for drinks, going their separate ways at the end of the evening, and the man, upon returning home, bombarding the woman with messages.

Kellam asked how the man could have avoided such a situation. Hurd said he suggested the man “should have been able to satisfy himself or take care of himself.”

In an Oct. 24 email Kellam sent to Will County Human Resources Director Bruce Tidwell and Assistant HR Director Regina Malone, the attorney told of a “lewd, inappropriate sexual gesture” made by an employee he believed to be named Ivan.

While discussing a scenario, “Ivan said words to the effect of the male employee should stop pursuing the woman and, as a replacement, should ‘do more of this,’” Kellam said in his email. “As he said ‘do more of this,’ he raised his right hand in the air and moved it back and forth as if he were masturbating.”

Kellam has yet to return a call for comment.

The Employee Assistant Program provides “help” to employees and their families so they can “find their way through personal concerns such as depression, stress, relationship issues, addictions, work life balance, and financial & legal questions,” according to the website for the Will County Governmental League.

Astrella was “ordered to participate in such program in response to (Bembnister’s and Flynn’s) complaints of sexual harassment,” according to a filing in the federal lawsuit.