The Dolton Village Board voted Monday to approve settlements in a former village and Thornton Township employee’s lawsuit alleging sexual assault and battery, and naming Trustee Andrew Holmes and former Mayor and Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard as defendants.
The lawsuit alleging Holmes drugged the former employee on a 2023 work trip to Las Vegas and that she woke up next to him in a hotel room drew attention from community activists opposed to Henyard’s administration. One advocate was arrested last summer after charging at Holmes during a village meeting.
A Dolton spokesperson would not provide terms of the settlement Tuesday, saying the agreement has not been finalized or signed.
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“While the board has voted on the matter last night, we are not disclosing any terms or details until all legal documents have been fully executed and the process is complete,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We remain committed to transparency and will share additional information with the public once it is appropriate to do so.”
A hearing in the lawsuit to consider party depositions is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Daley Center in Chicago’s Loop.
The settlement approvals come in the wake of another lawsuit filed against Holmes alleging he abused his power to sexually assault a 16-year-old in 2015, when she was recovering from sex trafficking. Holmes was a prominent anti-violence activist before being elected a Dolton trustee in 2016, but amid the allegations was fired by Chicago Survivors, a group he worked with.
While Holmes tried to vote against the settlement for the former employee Monday, he was told he must abstain from both settlement votes due to being named in the lawsuit. The former employee’s settlement was approved 5-0, while the settlement for the other plaintiff, a member of Henyard’s security detail on the trip, was approved despite Trustee Stan Brown voting no and Trustee Kiana Belcher voting present.
Records show Las Vegas police investigated the 2023 alleged assault, but prosecutors did not charge Holmes and he has denied wrongdoing.
A Las Vegas police investigative file obtained by the Tribune through a public records request describes evidence in the case, including a recording of Holmes allegedly speaking about his encounter with the former employee.
In her lawsuit, the former employee alleged while she worked for Dolton and Thornton Township, she went out for dinner with Holmes, whom she thought of as “an uncle.” The woman later reported feeling disoriented, told him so and blacked out, according to the suit.
That night, Holmes called the member of Henyard’s security detail and described “a host of his exploits from the trip, many of a sexual nature,” according to the lawsuit. Holmes allegedly made reference to engaging in sexual activities with the employee and on a video call showed both himself shirtless and the woman, who was partially undressed.
The security officer met with the employee to relay the information provided by Holmes, the lawsuit states, and in “significant distress,” she requested a meeting with Henyard. Henyard allegedly told her that if news of the incident got out, “Henyard would be ruined and all of the work she had done would be lost,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states Henyard asked the officer why the trustee would have called him, and he said he didn’t know other than “to brag.” Henyard in a legal response denied these and other allegations.
According to the lawsuit, the former employee sought damages for the alleged sexual assault as well as for Holmes sharing private sexual images without her consent.
She notified Judge Jerry Esrig in August that she switched attorneys from Sweeney Sharkey LLC to Eric M. White. White declined to comment on the settlement agreement Tuesday.
Neither Holmes nor Henyard could immediately be reached for comment on the settlement agreements.
When asked by the Tribune about the lawsuit brought by the victim of sex trafficking, Holmes said, “I don’t respond to any pending false allegations.”
Holmes was well known for anti-violence work over the last decade, with former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel once declaring an “Andrew Holmes Day.” TV host Steve Harvey hailed him as a champion of crime victims and former FBI Director James Comey honored Holmes with a national award for community leadership.
The Dolton trustee’s service to local communities included delivering 200 bags of food to seniors, distributing 1,500 Easter baskets to kids and 2,000 gun locks at the same event, throwing birthday parties to honor centenarians and, on one occasion, sleeping outside in the cold to bring awareness to homelessness.
“To have the safety you need in a neighborhood, you gotta live by a moral code, not a code of silence, and I’m gonna highlight Andrew Holmes because he has stepped forward and said, ‘I have a moral code, I have a moral responsibility,’” Emanuel said in 2014.
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