Village Passes Whistleblower Protection Ordinance

MOKENA, IL — The Village Of Mokena Board of Trustees unanimously passed an ordinance at its Monday meeting to protect Village employees who make complaints of wrongdoing against other employees or members of boards or commissions .

The Whistleblower Protection Policy prohibits any Village official from retaliating against any employee who reports an improper governmental action, cooperates in the investigation related to a report of an improper governmental action, or testifies in a proceeding or prosecution of an improper governmental action, according to the ordinance.

The policy defines an improper governmental action as "any action by a Village employee, an appointed member of a Village board, commission, or committee, or an elected official of the Village that is undertaken in violation of a federal, State, or local law or rule; is an abuse of authority; violates the public's trust or expectation of his or her conduct; is of substantial and specific danger to the public's health or safety; or is a gross waste of public funds. The action need not be within the scope of the employee's, elected official's, board member's, commission member's, or committee member's official duties to be subject to a claim of 'improper governmental action,'" according to the ordinance.

The policy states that Village officials may not retaliate against complaining or cooperating employees through such actions as "adverse employment action such as termination, compensation decreases, or poor work assignments and threats of physical harm," according to the ordinance.

The policy states that employees who believe they are being retaliated against have 60 days from the action in question to submit a written report to the assistant Village administrator, who has the authority under the policy to conduct an investigation into the report and "may take remedial action on behalf of the Complainant, including reinstatement, reimbursement for lost wages or expenses, promotion, or some other form of restitution that the Auditing Official deems appropriate," according to the ordinance.

The whistleblower's identity must be kept confidential "to the extent allowed by law," according to the ordinance.

Board appoints new police personnel

The Village board also unanimously approved the appointment of two people to positions within the Mokena Police Department.

Joe Stubbs was appointed to the position of part-time evidence/records clerk. Stubbs is a resident of Mokena and a retired Village of Oak Lawn police commander with more than 32 years of law enforcement experience, said Mokena Police Interim Chief Brian Benton.

Charles Penders was appointed to the position of part-time community service officer. Penders, also a resident of Mokena, is a retired schoolteacher with more than 30 years of experience in education, Benton said. Penders recently worked in customer service at the Mokena Community Public Library District, Benton said.

Stubbs and Penders were scheduled to begin their duties Tuesday, according to Village documents.

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