St. John officials are accused of sexual harassment in a third lawsuit, this time by a former employee who says she’s also cooperating in a grand jury investigation against them.
According to the lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, April Johnson worked as a contract janitor for the town until she was let go in September, after she filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Johnson, who suffers from hearing loss, says in the lawsuit that she was the target of both sexual harassment and teasing because of her disability since 2010.
She names former St. John Police Commander Michael Fryzel, who retired in March, as one of her main abusers. Fryzel has also been identified for sexual harassment by two St. John police dispatchers in other lawsuits filed earlier this year.
However, Johnson also claims in her lawsuit that Police Chief Fred Frego would join in the harassment, such as one of them making a sexual comment to her and the other saying it didn’t matter because she couldn’t hear them.
In April, the lawsuit says, she complained of the behavior to the EEOC, Lake County Prosecutor’s Office and the Indiana State Police. Sometime after, she discovered feces in her work area, including on the walls, which she believes was done because she complained, the lawsuit says.
Along with filing her own EEOC claim, Johnson says in her lawsuit that she also took part in the other two sexual harassment cases against town officials.
The lawsuit says Town Manager Steven Kil fired her in September, after she had cooperated with the other lawsuits. Johnson argues she was fired in retaliation.
The lawsuit says that Johnson continues to cooperate with a grand jury looking into the issue.
Kil, Frego and Fryzel are all listed as defendants, as is Sgt. James Turturillo, who Johnson says is also part of the administration and did not stop the harassment, the lawsuit says.
Kil had no comment on the case and referred questions to the town’s attorney, Dave Austgen. Austgen could not be reached for comment.
Johnson is asking for statutory and compensatory damages.
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