Mayor Brandon Johnson says he wasn't aware of aides' complaint to inspector general before firing them
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday said he was not aware of a hostile work environment complaint two of his top aides filed months before he fired them last week.
Five months before they were fired, Whitfield and Gatewood filed a complaint with the city's Office of Inspector General, accusing two of the mayor's most senior staffers of creating a hostile work environment.
Johnson said Tuesday neither he nor Pacione-Zayas or Lee knew about that complaint at the time Whitfield and Gatewood were fired.
"That was not brought to my attention," Johnson said. "It was not brought to any of our attention."
Whitfield said he believes they were fired for seeking to hold another employee accountable for insufficient job performance.
"What makes a leader great is the ability to understand there's going to be pushback and that with that pushback is only meant to make them better," he said.
Whitfield said he questions whether Johnson gets that.
"It doesn't feel like that right now, especially considering I don't have a job," Whitfield said.
Whitfield said, as he and Gatewood were seeking to place an employee they supervised on a performance plan, the tables turned, and instead Whitfield and Gatewood were fired. Both Gatewood and Whitfield have said they were not given a reason for their removal, only that the administration was "moving in a different direction."
"My gut tells me that it was retaliation for holding somebody accountable; for putting somebody on a performance improvement plan, for attempting to put somebody on a performance improvement plan, because I made the attempt with [the Department of Human Resources]. We were supposed to meet to finalize it, and it didn't happen," Whitfield said.
Whitfield said he believes that the decision to fire him and Gatewood sends a chill through remaining staff in the mayor's office.
"A lot of my colleagues and friends that I've worked with over the years at the city all were caught off guard," he said. "I can't explain to them why it's happened outside of me holding someone accountable, and then me being fired for doing that."
Meantime, former Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events first deputy Kenya Merritt has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the city and interim commissioner Kenya Merritt, claiming she was fired last month in retaliation for misconduct complaints she filed with the Office of Inspector General and the Department of Human Resources.
Johnson declined to discuss the specifics of that case, citing an ongoing investigation, but insisted his administration has not created a culture where staffers are afraid to report misconduct.
"Clearly they're not," Johnson said. "I don't know of any other administration where people have felt more comfortable to talk about how they feel. Because we have an open policy. People can talk about how they feel, especially if they feel that they have been treated wrong. That's not intimidating to me. People should feel comfortable to do that."
As for the decision to fire Gatewood, Johnson was asked – given a 30% drop in homicides in Chicago last year, when the city saw its lowest murder total in 60 years – where their visions for public safety diverged.
"First of all, we lifted up the work as a whole. I don't believe we've ever just simply singled out one individual as responsible, right?" he said. "It's a collective responsibility, and what I'm going to repeat one more time is this is about doing the work that continues to work, but also doubling down on those efforts. There's more work to be done."
The mayor also was asked what message he would send to existing staff who feel the need to reach out to the Inspector General's office.
"If there are individuals that have experienced anything within not just my administration, but any public space, that we have a moral responsibility to create strong, safe, healthy working environments," he said.
It is possible the mayor did not know about the complaint Gatewood and Whitfield filed with the Inspector General. The office's investigations are so tightly protected, even the focal points of the complaints often don't know there's an investigation at all.
