By Eric Stock
CHICAGO – Former State Treasurer Dan Rutherford of Chenoa has been cleared of charges that he fired three employees for cooperating in a sexual harassment investigation against him.
Cook County Circuit Judge James Snyder issued the ruling Monday indicating that Patrick Carlson, George Daglas and Ashvin Lad failed to prove their allegations.
A harassment lawsuit filed by a former employee Edmund Michalowksi is still pending in federal court.
Rutherford said he was relieved by the judge’s decision but called it bittersweet, nothing the employees had been his friends.
NBC Chicago reports the state of Illinois has already paid out more than half a million dollars in legal fees for Rutherford.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].