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Your Organization: CITY OF CHICAGO Update Organization Name Contacts~J

Your EEOC contact is : Janel Smith , janel.smith@eeoc.gov -

Please provide a statement of your position on [he issues covered in [he charge, with any supporting

documentation by July 07, 2019. For guidance on how to best prepare your Position Statement, please review

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Eileen Geary(Primary)

Chief Assistant Corporation

Counsel

CITY OF CHICAGO

30 N. LaSalle, Unit 1040

Chicago, IL 60602

eileen.geary@cityofchicago.org

(312) 744-8720 (main)

Charge: 440-2019-04967 update delete

The charge of employment discrimination that has been filed against your organization by G/enn Wi/liams, add Legal Representative

_ Charoe No. 440-201 9-0496 7 is available for you to view. Please click here to open and view a rnRy of tha ple reesrds feand

charge.

Statutes and circumstances of alleged discrimination: Charge Documents

• The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) Upload Documents

Genetic Information - --

Retaliation Notice of Charge

(Notice of Charge)

Jun 7, 2019

440201904967willia ms.pdf

(Charge of Discrimination)

]un 7, 2019

https://nz<~.ee<ic.~,ov/rs~~/jst%ch~~r~~enotice,jsf (/7/?019

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 1 of 12 PageID #:1366
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Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 2 of 12 PageID #:1367
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMfSSiON

GLENN WIL1.lAMS,

individually and on behalf

of AEI others similarly situated,

Petitioner,

vs. RECEiUED ~EQ~

CITY OF CHICAGO, individually MAY 2 3 2019 and as class representative certain

similarly situated and a{I Union Locals

an mem ers o t e oirrt cr anagemen ~~~~5~~

Cooperation Committee on Health Care,

Rahm Emanuel, Edward Burke and

Joseph Ferguson, in their official capacity,

Respondents.

SCHEDULE OF FACTS, CHARGES,`AND RESPONDENTS AND REQUESTED RELIEF

2. !n zQ07-2008 the City of Chicago with the assent and cooperation of all of the

union loca+s artd 1ega~ errtrties represerrtrrrg a~! norr-union employees of the Crty of Chicago for

Coilettive Bargaining purposes agreed to a "side letter" to the joint Collective Bargaining

agreement between the City and all of its employees. The "side letter" was not generally

published by the various Union Local's membership or the Cites non-Union employees. For

example, Mr Glenn Williams, at all times herein a member in good standing of Teamsters Local

700, received from his Local a printed booklet comprising the collectively bargained agreement

dated July 1, 20Q7 through June 30 2017. The index of the booklet refers to a "side letter" in the

Appendix on page 134. There is no page 134. He never received one. Nor did the other City

employees of Teamsters 700. Moreover, the Petitioner believes that na other City of Chicago

1

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 3 of 12 PageID #:1368
Employee did so either. Perhaps the exception being the Fiduciaries who actually participate~~

in that Collective Bargaining process at the time (2007-2008). The "side letter" surfaced 1~7

years later in the Collective Bargaining Local 700 BookEet which is effective July 1, 2017 througl~

June 30, 2022, at page 113. See Exhibits 1, 2, 5, 9.

2. Phis scenario skips to the year Rahm Err►anuel was elected Mayor in 2011. He haci

previously campaigned an the promise to cut 20 mi{lion dollars from the City's Health lnsurana~

Plan ("P{an"). Armed with the "side letter" of the 2007-200$ Collective Bargaining Agreement

the City initiated the "Chicago Lives Healthy Wellness Program" ("WP"}. The "Wellnes:s

Program" {"WP"), it is charged herein, is discriminatory and illegal for numerous reasons. One,

it is mandatory in that its membership, al! City of Chicago employes and their adult dependent:

wMo are beneficiaries and insured for Health +nsurance via the City' Health Care (Plan) ar~~

driven to join by threats of retaliation reinforced by closely monitored monetary penaftie~:

collected by deduction from the employee's paycheck. See Exhibitsl2, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20,

21, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34. Second, the Cites WP illegally imposes "Biometric Screening"

testing procedures on all of its members. Again retaliation is threatened and penalties are

imposed upon those employees or their adult dependents who choose not participate in such

procedures. The threatened and enforced retaliation is the same as it is for not enrolling in the

Chicago Lives Healthy WP. The penalty for atl employees and their spouses and or adult

dependents who are covered by the Cit~/s Employee Health insurance Program is $ 50.00 per

month per adult covered medical program adult beneficiary. The penalty, $25.00, is deducted

from the employees bi-weekly paychecks. The WP "penalty" is assessed against every Health

Care Plan (insurance Covered) Employee who either themselves or his or her

z

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 4 of 12 PageID #:1369
spouse/dependent does not join the WP or who does not participate in the WP's required

procedures In either case the Employee sponsor will be penalized and caused to have $25.00

deducted from his/her bi-weekly paycheck for the rest of that year. Second, the WP illegally

imposes "Biametric Screening" procedures an aEl its members who do not go through Biometric

Screening and or tests. Again retaliation is threatened and the same penalty is imposed nn th°

Employee and the recalcitrant must pay or have his/her Health Plan sponsor pay the penalty in

the same amount and method. The third Federal Civil Rights ~ialation of the WP is the City's

by threatened and enforced retaliation by the imposition of a penalty of a $25.00 per employe?

by deduction from each bi-weekly paycheck. Refer to Exhibits 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21,

26, 28, 29, 3d, 31, 3~.

3. Petitioner's discrimination includes charges against:

A) All of the participating Union locals and their responsible officers and trustees a:~

well as against the legal entities or organizations that represented the non-unionized Cit~i

Employees during the Collective Bargaining negotiations of the 2pQ7-2008 and 2017-201~~

Joint Collective Bargaining sessions that in 2007-2008 led to the Joint Labor Management:

Cooperation Committee, aka the "LMCC". See Exhibit 4.

B) The current outgoing Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, personally and in hip;

capacity as Mayor of the City of Chicago and Mr. Edward Burke as chairman of the City's

Finance Committee throughout the relevant period are charged as co-conspirators/agents o1

the City in the ongoing violations of the Civil Rights the City's employees as that they both

3

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 5 of 12 PageID #:1370
Exh. 21 Chicago Benefits Office Annual Open Enrailment 2019, Health Plan and Weilnes;:

Program

Exh. 22 Letter of Complaint by Petitioner believed to be sent by Glenn Williams to City Benefit:

Office, bept. of Finance and Teamsters Local 700 with Appeal Form in December of 2014

Exh. 23 Letter of Complaint by Petitioner, Glenn Williams, to City Benefits Office, Department of

Finance and Teamsters Local 700 with Appeals Form on 12/22/16

Exh. 24 Letter To Wham ft May Concern by Glenn Williams, Petitioner dated April 22, 2019

Exh.25 Selective Pages from Agreement and Declaration of Trust from Joint Coifective

9argaining Agreement of 2007-2008 submitted by Petitioner in Support of his letters of

complaint and appeals of We{Iness Program

Exh. 26 List of aii Union Locals Represented in City of Chicago Employment including names of

current responsibie officers and trustees

Exh. 27 1/7/19 letter to Petitioner from City Deparment of Finance

Re: Wellness Program requirements including newly created required test under threat

of monetary penalty, the "Real Age" Test

Exh.28 Teamster Loaf 700 email to Petitioner dated April 29, 2019 reminding him of

"mandator' City of Chicago "Real Age Test" with threat of $50.00 per month penaiiy

Exh. 29 Letter to Petitioner dated February 1, 2019 from City Department of Finance reminding

of Biometrit Screening tests, and $50.00 per non-participant "increase" in his/her

monthly heaithcare contributions

Exh.30 Letter to Petitioner from City Dept. of Finance dated 2/15/19 Re: March 29,2019

Deadline for taking of "Real Age lest" or suffer "$50.OQ per non-participant increase in

non-participant increase in monthly health care contributions for each individual who

does not complete the "Real Age Test"

Exh.31 Department of Finance letter to Petitioner Re Right to Appeal "not completed"

"Biometric Screening' tests

fxh. 32 2019 Appeal Form for Wellness Program

Exh. 33 2018 AppBal Farm for Wellness Program

Exh. 34 City of Chicago Announcement for X019 that there will be "two paths" for Wellness

Program following completion of the "Real Age" Test

Exh. 35 Wellness Program far 2017

3

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 6 of 12 PageID #:1371
have been the dominant City of Chicago Administrators throughout the relevant period of it;

discriminatory illegalities at issue herein.

~j Ar4ost recently, as of 2029, another entity has apparently been retarrzed by the

City to assist in the planning and management of its recently enacted additional invasion into

the Civil Rights of the City of Chicago's employees and family members, CLHSharecare.com. Thi::

entity appears to be spearheading the City's most recent attack on its employees' privacy o~~

each individuals' heaEth information in partnership with omnipotent acting Finance

Department. The City's charge into a new fiorm of privacy invasion, "The Real Age Test" a~.

referred to by the Finance Department as available to schedule the test by calling 1-866-556-

7671. This entity is to be included as a co-third party respondent. in a letter to all City

employees from the Finance Department the a new devicQ called the "Real Age Test" was

introduced as another intrusive personal abuse to every citizens privacy. It too is is required as

an additional testing procedure that is not voluntary but rather is required of all WP

participants pursuant to the threat of retaliation by the same monetary penalties as the

requirements of Biometric Screening testing and Genetic determinations enforced by the

imposition of the of the same penalty as has been used since the WP was first imposed on the

employees in 2x11, bi-weekly monetary fines. See Exhibits 27 and 28.

4. Mr. Williams alleges that there are other parties who while acting either

independently or together with the City are also responsible for the City's wrongful conduct.

Petitipner charges American Healthways Services LLC, an entity registered in Hawaii and

Delaware which is believed to have participated in the establishment and/or "management" of

the Chicago Lives Healthy Wellness Program. Although Petitioner and his counsel's efforts to

4

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 7 of 12 PageID #:1372
determine what if any role that entity ar its successor in name has played have beer

considerable the questions who, what, why, when and how much remain unknown. What i:,

known is what is available from the Secretaries of States offices in Hawaii and Delaware thai.

consist of registrations in 2007 and a subsequent name change in 2008. Apparently there are

persons within the City's senior administrators who know much mare. See Exhibits 16.

5. An article that appeared in the Chicago Sun Times on August 8, 2015 refers to a

Report by Mayor Emanuef's appointed Inspector General as "noting that rash-strapped Chicago

is paying American Healthways Services LLC 3 miliian a year, $10.5 million through December

31-to administer the program." See Exhibit 18. Although the Inspector General had negative

opinions as to the effectiveness of the WP, his office failed to pursue the apparent Civil Rights

violations or other violations of law on behalf of his reference to "33,554 #utl-time equivalent

employees" and their dependents and the millions of other citizens of the City as of 2015.

b. The Office of the inspector General, the so-called OIG of the City of Chicago has

never taken action or appears to have considered the Civil Rights of the City's many employees

and their dependents. This, even though the article further states that:

A} "The Report..... that WP membership is involuntary The threat of a $50.Q0

surcharge in monthly health insurance premiums".... (not the way it appears to have been

applied or accounted for until 2019).."was enough to persuade 85 % of eligible city employees

and their dependents to sign up for the wellness program. The City has so far collected $1.9

million in "non-participation"fees Ferguson's report said". See Exhibit 18.

s

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 8 of 12 PageID #:1373
B) Petitioner cF~arges the The City of Chicago's Office of the Inspector General

together with its principal officer, the Inspector General, during the relevant time period, Mr

Joseph Ferguson, in his official and in his individual professional capacity as an additional thirdparty to the charges of discrimination herein and for the resulting damages. See Exhibit Z$.

7. Mr. Glenn Williams, in three separate letters of complaint and Appeals

submitted to his Union focal and to the Gty's Finance Committee he be{ieves in 2412, 2014 and

2016 while acting on his own behalf and an far all other affected City employees complained

about the it{egaEities of the .WP. F!e sent "appea4 forms" and complaint letters to the Chicago

Benefits Office, the Cites Finance Department and to the officers of own Teamster Racal 7Q0.

His union officers answered that they knew nothing about had occurred during the negotiations

in 2007 since all of its offrcers were subsequently replaced. The City never responded. However

during the period of 2012 through June 2017 while his complaints and Appeals were being sent

Mr. Williams was never charged a penalty until July of 2017. Arguably this constitute, evidence

of an admission. Apparently, the City began deducting $25.00 from each of his bi-weekly

paychecks finally because the Petitioner believes the City finally realized that the complaint

letters being received from numerous other employees were being generated by Mr. Williams.

When word spread tha# he was not being penalized. Then he was asked by numerous

employees who felt the same way about the WP for copies of his letters. He believes the copies

of the letters he gave away were being altered as to the employees' ID and sent to the same

places he had sent his to. The result was that a number of other of his employee friends had

their penalty deductions stopped as well. Eventually the City realized the common source and

resumed its billing to him and his friends. See Exhibits 22, 23, 24.

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 9 of 12 PageID #:1374
8. Finally the "side letter" now appears in the in the 2017 Teamsters local 70Q

Collective Bargaining Agreement of 2017 -2018 at page 113). Petitioner is unaware as to

whether the other roughly 35,00 City of Chicago effected employees( plus their

dependents have been furnished the "side- letter' or not. He believes that like himself they

have not previously been made aware. This, in spite of the fact that they like Glenn Williams

they are owed Fiduciary obligations by all City of Chicago elected and Appointed Supervisory

Personnel as well as by the various Union Locals' Administrators, Officers and Trustees and

t e representatives o t e non unionize emp ogees in t eir negotiations during the Collective

Bargaining processes of 2007-2008.

9. Petitioner includes all of his identified complaints listed in his letters within his

current Charges he now places before this Commission. He recognizes that some illegal conduct

may jurisdictionally overlap with that of other Federal Agencies. For example, finally, as of

January 7, 2019 the City now acknowledges that the WP penalty ($50.00 per month per adult

deducted from the paychecks of each City Employee being assessed for his/her dependents

employee member's participation of the family covered by the City's Health Care Plan} is

openly considered additional premium for the the Health Care Program. This is in clear breach

of the Employees' and City's Collective Bargaining Agreements as to the contractually

scheduled amounts of each empbyee's Health Care Plan premium costs as set forth in tables

included in the Collective Bargaining Agreements of 2007-2008 and 2917 - 2018 (and is

discriminatory as well). See Exhibits 3, 27, 28, Z9, 30 attached hereto and included herein.

1Q. Mr. Wrfliams and his counsel respectfufty request this Honorable Federal

Commission permit broad discovery into all of the facts surrounding these extraordinary facts

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 10 of 12 PageID #:1375
and circumstances or rank disdain for the laws of our Nation. This is especially true given that

they all are targeted toward the basics of lives necessities, our Health Care and our Civil Rights.

Frorri a legal, moral and cultural standpoint Petitioners respectfully remind this

Commission that all of this conduct falls within the scope of our societ~s highest of our

individual duties to one another-our fiduciary obligations.

WHEREFORE, Mr. Williams, and his counseE of record individually and on behalf of the

class and subclasses they represent respectfully request that this Equal Employment

Commission of the United States of America:

A) Award Petitioner and the class and /or sub-classes he represents such relief as it

deems appropriate including the determinations that this case can proceed as both

a Petitioners' and Respondents' class action;

B) That fair and just ordinary and punitive damages be awarded together with

injunctive relief, casts, compensation for the representative Petitioner for the many

hours he has spent over the years in pursuit of Justice for himself and his fellow

employees{and their dependents for Health care);

C) That reasonable attorneys fees and costs to counsel of record be awarded; and

D) Far such other and further relief as this Honorable Commission may determine to be

fair and just as well as instructive to all employers, both Municipal and Private, Labor

Unions and their officers, Trustees, and to all elected and appointed public officials

throughout our Great Nation.

a

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 11 of 12 PageID #:1376
~/~ ~ 

+'~

Rober A. Holstein

Robert A. Hols~ein

ARD~ Na. 1252600

X30 N. Garland Ct.

Chicago, Illirrais 606112

Tel. Na. 312-9036-800

holsteinlaw@~mail.com

Alison Muth

ARDC No. 631.8105

4022 Grace Ave.

Brookfield, Illinois 60813

Tei. No~ 708- 205-1869

ailison.muth.law@g~»ii.corn

r~ESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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3

AIIISO~t MUtFi

Attorneys for Petitioner ~ ~

Case: 1:20-cv-00420 Document #: 105-9 Filed: 07/30/21 Page 12 of 12 PageID #:1377