Fired planning director files federal lawsuit against county, officials

McHenry County and several of its officials are named in a federal lawsuit filed Friday by fired Planning and Development Director SuzAnne Ehardt.

The 31-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rockford alleges that the county denied her due process in her 2008 firing and unsuccessful appeal. Ehardt was fired for alleged bad behavior at two meetings of the Regional Planning Commission putting together the 2030 Land Use Plan.

Ehardt is seeking at least $700,000 in damages and her immediate reinstatement. She joined the department in 1979, was appointed director in 1998, and made $100,000 a year at the time of her firing. Ehardt attorney Mark Gummerson said the county violated its own rules to terminate her based on the whims of a few.

“She was wrongfully removed. She put her heart and soul into her job,” Gummerson said. “Nobody put in more hours and more dedication than SuzAnne Ehardt, until four or five people decided to get rid of her.”

Named in the lawsuit besides the county itself is County Administrator Peter Austin, County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, former Vice Chairman John Jung, board members Barbara Wheeler and Tina Hill, and hearing officer John Kelly, who is not a county employee.

State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi said he anticipated that the federal court would side with the county.

The office’s civil division will represent the county and the individuals named.

“Sue Ehardt was an employee at will, and because of that, we believe her termination was proper,” Bianchi said. “We’re confident that we will prevail, just as we did in state court.”

The federal lawsuit alleges that the county did not follow a policy of progressive discipline when it fired Ehardt. She never had faced disciplinary action since her start with the department, the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, the four County Board members and Austin met at Koehler’s home May 12, 2008, four days after the second Regional Planning Commission meeting in question. The board members directed Austin at that time to fire Ehardt.

Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake, was chairwoman of the board’s Planning and Development Committee at the time. Ehardt’s firing did not go through that committee, however, which the lawsuit alleges violated county procedures.

Hill, R-Woodstock, confirmed that the meeting took place, and that she attended at Koehler’s behest. She said the decision to fire Ehardt was justified, and that the meeting took place at Koehler’s home only because he was recovering from knee surgery.

“Miss Ehardt was terminated for cause, for inappropriate behavior at meetings that her supervisor, Peter Austin, didn’t think he could defend anymore,” Hill said.

Austin wrote Ehardt a letter May 16, 2008, offering her a severance of 24 weeks pay and her 26 accrued vacation days if she agreed to hold the county harmless. The letter stated that Austin had counseled her after the Regional Planning Commission meeting in February for her “lack of courtesy and professionalism” in dealing with the commission’s members.

Ehardt spurned the offer and was fired June 6. She then requested a hearing, which was conducted by Kelly on Sept. 30 and Oct. 23. Kelly ruled in the county’s favor Nov. 24, agreeing that Ehardt’s firing was justified. The County Board, which had gone almost six months without a planning director while the firing was being disputed, hired Director Dennis Sandquist the next day.

The federal lawsuit alleges that the hearing was not fair because Ehardt’s requests for testimony from county officials and the chairman of the Regional Planning Commission were not honored.

Ehardt filed suit Dec. 23 in McHenry County Court asking for a review of Kelly’s decision, but Judge Maureen McIntyre tossed the lawsuit out Wednesday, stating that it did not include the facts needed to support a cause of action. McIntyre gave Ehardt the option of refiling it, but Ehardt voluntarily dismissed it Friday morning.

Ehardt’s lawsuit seeks at least $150,000 from the county, $100,000 from each of the four board members, and $50,000 from Kelly, not including legal fees. The remaining defendants in the lawsuit could not be reached for comment Friday.