Oak Park Spokesman David Powers said the village had not yet seen the suit and did not comment on personnel matters or pending litigation.

A longtime former employee of the Village of Oak Park last week sued the village for retaliatory firing for whistleblowing after she said she and her lawyer told supervisors that money was missing from the village’s health insurance fund.

But a termination letter from the village said Jacquelyn Jamison, who worked as an executive secretary and benefits administrator for 18 years, had made serious mistakes renewing the village insurance policies.

Jamison filed suit in the Cook County Circuit Court on March 23 saying she was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for pointing out the allegedly missing money. Her lawyer, Michael Leonard, said Jamison also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in November 2015 alleging racial and age discrimination by the village.

In February, Oak Park issued a statement about a village data breech saying in the personal data of more than 600 village employees and family members had been sent by an unidentified employee to a personal email address. According to the village, an employee [Jamison] had emailed three Microsoft Excel spreadsheets containing insurance information for employees and retirees of the village, Park District, Library, Township and West Suburban Consolidated Dispatch Center.

A statement from Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said, “We have no indication that the information taken was intended for any illegal use.” The statement said the employee had been fired.

Pavlicek did not return emailed requests for comment. Spokesman David Powers said the village had not yet seen the suit and did not comment on personnel matters or pending litigation.

Jamison’s lawsuit said she sent the information via email to her private address because she was working from home and “in accordance with Oak Park’s policies and procedures.” The suit said she also sent the files to her home email address to “corroborate and prove her allegations that Oak Park and/or its employees were engaged in a fraud upon the citizens of Oak Park.”

Leonard said Jamison was working reduced hours and working from home under the Family Medical Leave Act to care for her ailing mother.

“She was assisting with her mother through all this,” Leonard said. “Under the Family Medical leave Act, you’re not supposed to have to work; that’s one of the reasons why you take work home and try to do your job.”

But a termination letter from Pavlicek alleged Jamison was not keeping up with her duties and had missed an open enrollment deadline for village insurance policies.

“As a result of your actions, employees of the Village of Oak Park were denied dental insurance coverages [and] flexible spending account payments,” Pavlicek’s letter said. “Life insurance coverage for all employees … was cancelled effective January 1,

2016,” she wrote. “Whether you intended the consequences described herein or not, multiple managers were required to take corrective actions that were time consuming.”

At a hearing Jan. 28 with the deputy village manager and a village lawyer, the village asked Jamison to hand over her home HP desktop computer and her cell phone. Leonard said his client and village could not agree on the terms of examining her home computer.

Jamison’s suit asks for more than $50,000 for the loss of her salary and also compensation for accrued vacation and sick days.

“Jackie would like her job back, if they’d be willing to have her back under the right circumstances. She’s been a longtime dedicated servant of the village for almost two decades,” Leonard said. “It’s not about money. She’d rather be doing her job.”

At least three EEOC complaints against the village were filed by Oak Park police officers and employees since last summer, Leonard confirmed.

“When you have this much litigation activity in a small town, people need to ask questions,” Leonard said.

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— Fired Oak Park employee files whistleblower lawsuit —