Sexual harassment lawsuit against Country Club Hills (more)
Excerpts from ChicagoTribune.com: Thousands of web searches for pornography were found on four computers used by the Country Club Hills Fire Department, according to testimony from a forensic expert. Andrew Garrett, who conducted a digital imaging analysis on January 26 on behalf of Dena Lewis-Bystrzycki, a female firefighter involved in a lawsuit against the department, testified last month about the findings. He revealed that there were thousands of porn-related web searches across the devices. “There are thousands of searches for pornography. It’s all over the place,†Garrett said in court. “It looks like they wiped the hard drives and reloaded them. I provided [Dana Kurtz, Lewis-Bystrzycki’s attorney] with three dates when this was done.†However, once the computers were reconnected to the network, the servers pushed down old user profiles, which included traces of previous searches for explicit content. Lewis-Bystrzycki, who has been with the fire department since 1998, claims she faced sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation after reporting misconduct. She also alleges that firefighters regularly watched pornography at the station. In August 2016, a judge ruled that a search of the department's computers wasn't a fishing expedition and ordered a forensic examination. The process took nearly five months to begin, and only after Judge Lynn Egan sanctioned the city for failing to comply. The city was ordered to pay for the forensic work as part of the sanctions. Before the results of the imaging were made public, the city filed an emergency motion for a protective order, hoping to limit media access to the information. They argued that without such a gag order, the plaintiff could influence the jury pool, risking a biased trial. The city cited past behavior and a 2015 news report about the case as justification for its request. However, the city did not respond to requests for comment on the motion or the allegations that it had destroyed evidence and violated court orders. Kurtz, the attorney, responded by denying the city’s claims, stating that the media was simply reporting on publicly available court documents. She also pointed out the city’s history of non-compliance, including multiple motions to compel and sanctions being granted in her favor. She accused the city of intentionally destroying evidence and committing spoliation. Despite these serious accusations, legal experts believe it’s unlikely the matter will be investigated by authorities. Instead, Kurtz plans to file motions related to spoliation and contempt once the forensic report is finalized. A hearing on the city’s protective order motion is scheduled for late next month. Thanks, Dan vacuum lifter,Vacuum Balance Lifters,industrial vacuum lifter,bag vacuum lifter Jiangyin Tongli Industrial Co.,Ltd , https://www.manipulator17.com