Cook dinner County choose accused of ‘undesirable touching’ as prosecutor

A Cook dinner County choose who’s working in subsequent week’s main to maintain her seat was reported by her supervisor for alleged undesirable touching, bullying, and different office misconduct towards her colleagues throughout her tenure as a county prosecutor.

Choose Ruth Gudino denies the allegations, and the Cook dinner County State’s Legal professional’s Workplace stated the allegations had been “unsubstantiated.”

Gudino allegedly “engaged in undesirable touching of a number of” fellow prosecutors, in line with an April 2018 memo written by Dan Groth, then a supervising Cook dinner County assistant state’s legal professional on the Maywood courthouse, the place Gudino labored as his deputy. “This contains undesirable contact with the decrease again, shoulders, waist areas, and pants pocket areas,” Groth wrote.

Within the memo, obtained by Injustice Watch by a public information request, Groth recounted a 2017 episode during which Gudino allegedly inspired a feminine assistant state’s legal professional “to put on extra revealing clothes within the bust space” after criticizing her for sporting high-necked shirts. “When the ASA responded that she didn’t suppose it was applicable to point out cleavage in court docket, Gudino insisted that the ASA’s shirt nonetheless revealed cleavage,” Groth wrote, referring to the unnamed feminine prosecutor. Gudino then allegedly “ran her hand down the facet of the ASA’s lined breast over the clothes, commenting, ‘What do you name that?’”

The memo additionally particulars a number of cases during which Gudino allegedly “belittled” prosecutors “for his or her private look and mannerisms” and for being “chubby.” In a single case, Groth stated Gudino allegedly instructed a prosecutor that he ought to cease consuming salads for lunch, “because it was not working.”

Groth didn’t identify Gudino’s accusers, although he stated he was additionally on the receiving finish of undesirable touching and inappropriate feedback from Gudino. Injustice Watch couldn’t independently confirm the allegations towards Gudino. A spokesperson for the Cook dinner County State’s Legal professional’s Workplace wrote in a quick assertion that “a evaluate of this matter decided the allegations to be unsubstantiated.”

In a prolonged e-mail response, Gudino “categorically” denied the allegations. “I’ve by no means engaged in inappropriate habits, both professionally or personally,” she wrote. “In my over-22-year profession as an assistant state’s legal professional, I’ve by no means had any official misconduct allegations lodged towards me or been investigated for any misconduct allegations by the Cook dinner County State’s Legal professional’s Workplace. I’ve by no means been topic to an investigation for misconduct as a result of there has by no means been a reputable allegation lodged as a result of nothing ever occurred.”

Gudino additionally claimed that Groth was a “disgruntled former worker who had points with ladies.” She didn’t present proof to substantiate that declare in response to an Injustice Watch request for extra particulars.

Groth initially declined Injustice Watch’s request to remark, however he later supplied a press release after reporters knowledgeable him of Gudino’s feedback. Groth stated Gudino’s accusations about him had been “categorically” false. “The proponent of these statements has supplied no assist for her falsities as a result of she can’t,” he wrote.

Groth instructed Injustice Watch that he reached out in 2017 about Gudino’s alleged habits to his two quick supervisors, however that they stated he would “get replaced” if he complained to them once more about Gudino. “As an skilled prosecutor, I acknowledged sufferer blaming,” Groth wrote in his assertion.

In accordance with his 2018 memo, Groth convened a workers assembly in February during which he stated he instructed everybody, together with Gudino, that undesirable touching was unacceptable, however Gudino’s habits allegedly continued. After reiterating the identical message at one other workers assembly in April 2018, “the undesirable touching stopped for a couple of week” however resumed quickly after, Groth wrote, as Gudino allegedly “tugged or pulled” a prosecutor’s ear and “wrapped her arms round one other ASA’s neck to simulate strangling him.”

Later that month, Groth instructed Injustice Watch, his supervisors “ordered” him to write down the memo detailing the complaints that he’d obtained about Gudino. He submitted the memo to Joseph Magats, then the prison prosecution bureau chief for the state’s legal professional’s workplace, and Risa Lanier, his deputy, on April 27, 2018. “That very same day, [Gudino] was faraway from the Maywood courthouse and transferred to a different courthouse,” Groth claimed in his assertion. In accordance with a duplicate of Gudino’s resume, she began working on the Bridgeview courthouse in Could 2018.

It’s unclear what Magats and Lanier did with the memo. A public information officer on the state’s legal professional’s workplace instructed Injustice Watch that “there aren’t any responsive paperwork for any disciplinary information or investigative information” associated to Gudino. Magats has since left the workplace and didn’t reply to requests for remark. A spokesperson for the state’s legal professional’s workplace declined to make Lanier, who’s now the workplace’s second-in-command, accessible for an interview. The spokesperson additionally didn’t reply to a listing of detailed questions on how the allegations had been investigated or discovered to be unsubstantiated.

In his written assertion, Groth instructed Injustice Watch that two members of the state’s legal professional’s workplace contacted him in regards to the memo, and he supplied them with further particulars in regards to the alleged incidents. Groth left the Cook dinner County State’s Legal professional’s Workplace for one more job in December 2018.

A couple of months after Groth left, Gudino returned to Maywood, taking Groth’s previous job. She was within the place till the Illinois Supreme Court docket quickly appointed her to fill a judicial emptiness in April 2021.

Gudino is working as a Democrat in subsequent week’s main election to remain on the bench. A dozen bar teams evaluated her earlier than she was appointed by the state supreme court docket and stated she was certified for the job; three teams stated she was extremely certified or really helpful. The Chicago Bar Affiliation stated she is “effectively regarded for her authorized data, intensive trial expertise, and glorious demeanor and temperament.”

Learn the complete memo under: