The Chicago Tribune has won the right to get a potentially revealing letter about claims that workers were fired two years ago from the office of city Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin after they refused to participate in alleged illegal and unethical conduct.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office handed the Tribune the victory following months of fighting by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s legal team, which argued the letter should be kept secret.

Raoul’s office issued a “binding opinion” this week stating that the city of Chicago “improperly denied” releasing the letter, which the city received from a private attorney representing the fired employees.

Tribune Executive Editor Mitch Pugh said, “We are pleased that the attorney general has been clear and direct with this binding decision. We continue to be disturbed by the city’s unwillingness to follow both the spirit and the letter of the law.”

“This is far from the first time we’ve seen such blatant disregard for the public’s right to know from this administration,” Pugh said. “However, we will continue to hold the city accountable to the taxpayers it serves and the laws it has been sworn to uphold. We’d like to think the city will now do the right and lawful thing, but we are prepared to continue this fight if necessary.”

In September, a Cook County judge ruled in favor of the Tribune that the Lightfoot administration improperly denied records the news organization sought about allegations of misconduct by ranking members of the Chicago Fire Department and separate records tied to state and federal discrimination and harassment allegations involving the city.

In the case of the city treasurer, a city spokesman said the opinion has been received and will be reviewed.

The Tribune through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests sought to get from the city the letter it received from the private attorney, and Raoul’s binding decision on Tuesday said the city’s refusal to provide it “violated the requirements of FOIA.” The attorney general’s office said binding opinions have the force of law, and a public body has to comply or seek administrative review in circuit court within 35 days of the opinion being issued.

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Conyears-Ervin, a Lightfoot ally, has maintained the allegations of misconduct in her office are false, saying she fired the employees because she wanted to take the office in a different direction.

Tiffany Harper, the treasurer’s former chief of staff, previously alleged in an email to a city ethics officer that she had “no doubt that our terminations are related to our refusal to participate in the illegal and unethical conduct.” Harper did not elaborate in that email about her allegations or identify who might be the subject of her complaint.

Harper and Ashley Evans, the treasurer’s former chief impact officer, settled their complaints for $100,000, with the city giving each $41,000 and their attorney receiving $18,000. They were among four treasurer employees fired.

Tribune City Hall reporter Gregory Pratt filed a series of requests under the state’s Freedom of Information Act seeking emails about the dispute.

When denied the private attorney’s letter, Pratt appealed to the attorney general office’s public access counselor and in July won an initial nonbinding determination that stated the city should release the letter. But the city refused.

In September, Pratt asked the attorney general’s office for a binding decision because the city had “already shown its disregard for the AG’s non-binding decision on this exact matter,” according to a copy of the reporter’s written request.

The city argued the letter from the fired workers’ attorney was part of privileged settlement negotiations and exempt under the Freedom of Information Act as well prohibited by various courtroom rules of evidentiary and discovery in legal actions.

Siding with the Tribune, the attorney general’s office stated that the city’s arguments don’t apply and that the letter is not exempt from FOIA.

The attorney general’s office also tossed aside the city’s argument about evidentiary and discovery rules, saying those rules don’t apply in this matter and don’t overcome “the public’s statutory right to obtain information pursuant to FOIA.”

“Accordingly,” Raoul’s office concluded, the city “is hereby directed to take immediate and appropriate action to comply with this opinion by providing Mr. Pratt with a copy of the responsive letter.”

rlong@chicagotribune.com



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