Chicago´s Mayor administration fired staffers who complained about mistreatment by officials

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration fired three city staffers after they complained about how they were treated by high-ranking officials, records show.

The episode unfolded early in the administration, and its fallout continued into the autumn. It offers a window into the bumpy transition in the mayor’s office from Lori Lightfoot to Johnson.

Two days after Johnson was inaugurated in May, top City Hall adviser Jason Lee walked into a press aide’s office and began yelling, according to a complaint filed by former deputy director of digital strategy Dora Meza with the state’s human rights department and the city inspector general.

Lee was upset with the digital team, made up of people hired during the Lightfoot administration who had stayed on after Johnson took office, for not posting a photo recap of Johnson’s appearance at the NBA Draft Combine to the mayor’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages, according to the complaint Meza filed. Meza said she told Lee they were holding off on posting content because they were livestreaming the funeral for slain police Officer Aréanah Preston. Press office colleague Azhley Rodriguez was also present, both told the Tribune.

During the interaction, Lee “constantly hovered over” Meza as she sat in her desk, “raised his voice, used profane language, rolled his eyes, and kept holding his head in his hands,” according to the complaint.

The women said they were upset by the way Lee spoke to them and later felt shut out of the decision-making process as well as the culture at City Hall. Their boss at the time, Josué Ortiz, told the Tribune they had slumped shoulders and looked upset when he returned to the office and that they confided to him about the incident afterward.

“One word to summarize it would definitely be degrading. It was really disappointing,” Rodriguez said. “We expected more from people who speak so highly of themselves and say they’re for the people but the people they’re working with they don’t really care about.”

In a statement, Lee noted the “alleged incident” just days after Johnson took office, and denied being involved in their termination.

“As far as the alleged incident between me and the former employees two days into our administration, I recall the details differently, both in terms of the reason for the discussion and the characterization of my actions,” Lee said. “Nevertheless the one-time engagement was only minutes long, and by the former employees’ own account, was not the substance of their complaints with regards to their management over two months later.”

Johnson’s press office declined to comment on the specific conduct alleged by the women but denied wrongdoing, while noting it isn’t unusual for City Hall staffers hired by the prior administration to lose their jobs after a new mayor moves into the fifth floor.

“We will not comment on specific personnel matters, but wholeheartedly reject any claims of inappropriate behavior or employee retaliation. Employee turnover is inevitable and an expected part of any administration change,” the statement said. “We are proud of the dedicated and hardworking professionals currently serving the people of Chicago as part of this administration.”

Lee has emerged as a major power player in the Johnson administration and has been far more visible than comparable staffers and consultants under recent mayors. Unlike top Lightfoot adviser Joanna Klonsky or Rahm Emanuel aide David Spielfogel, he regularly does on-the-record media interviews. Some City Hall holdovers from previous administrations refer to him as “Mayor Lee” due to the large influence he has over city plans.

He has also clashed publicly with an alderman. Last fall, Lee tied the removal of a homeless encampment to whether downtown Ald. Bill Conway would agree to vote for two hallmarks of Johnson’s progressive policy platform, which the alderman later said was inappropriate and referred to the inspector general’s office for investigation. Lee acknowledged the conversation but chalked it up to normal political deal-making.

In his statement, Lee noted his role is “much speculated” about, but said he has “no hiring or firing authority, no budget authority, and no direct reports.”

“To be clear, there is only one Mayor of the City of Chicago,” Lee said. “To suggest otherwise is to disrespect the hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans who voted for a courageous, loving and brilliant man named Brandon Johnson to usher in a better, stronger, safer Chicago.”

Conflicts between Johnson advisers and Lightfoot holdovers continued in the months after Lee’s alleged encounter with Meza and Rodriguez.

In another complaint, this one filed with the attorney general’s office, Meza recounted a July 2023 meeting her boss, Josué Ortiz, had with Mondine Harding of the mayor’s office about press secretary Ronnie Reese that caused her and Rodriguez to complain at City Hall.

“Ronnie told Josué that he liked him and had his back,” Meza wrote. “When Josué asked about me and Azhley Rodriguez, Ronnie responded by saying the two of us needed to work harder. Ronnie did not provide any measurable feedback for me and Azhley to improve upon. Also during this conversation, Ronnie told Josué that Azhley and I laugh too much. When Josué asked to clarify, Ronnie said that we needed to work harder. In contrast, Ronnie would joke with male colleagues.”

Rodriguez and Meza then went to Harding, who instructed them to meet with chief of staff Rich Guidice about their issues, according to the complaint. That meeting was postponed until mid-August, Meza alleged.

When they went to meet with Guidice, Meza wrote, Reese was also present and Guidice “began by saying that he understood some issues were going on, but that due to the change of administration, they were restructuring the (mayor’s press office) and asked us all to resign effective immediately.”

All three staffers were fired Aug. 9. Later that month, they were sent letters by the city telling them they were being placed on the city’s do-not-hire list, a document that’s often reserved for workers accused of substantive wrongdoing.

Records released by the city show Ortiz appealed the do-not-hire designation on Sept. 6, saying the fired employees were told by Harding and Guidice explicitly that their departure “would not interfere with future employment eligibility with the City” and that they were “being let go” due to a “change in administration.”

The city has not formally responded to Ortiz’s appeal, records show. Meza’s complaints, which allege the workers were treated differently than male employees, have not been adjudicated by the inspector general’s office or state officials.

In a memo dated Sept. 12, released in response to a Tribune public records request, Reese accused the staffers of being insubordinate and complained that the city lost access to passwords after they left.

“Within an hour after former staffers left the building after termination on Aug. 9, 2023, current staff lost access to Mayor Brandon Johnson (MBJ) Twitter account,” Reese wrote. “Access was restored following a phone call from Mondine Harding.”

He said the staffers didn’t share login information prior to the firing and criticized them for “inconsistency with staffing events.”

In an email to Harding, Meza told the city she had previously turned over the passwords in a master file.

Reese also wrote that “senior press office and senior mayoral staffers were referred to in derogatory terms by former staff on official City of Chicago communication channels.”

“Upon termination, one staffer made the comment that he wanted to apply for another position with the City of Chicago but would wait because the current mayor ‘is only going to get one term anyway,’” Reese wrote.

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