Chicago city worker faced harassment, threats over pregnancy, lawsuit claims
CDOT worker files federal lawsuit alleging harassment
CDOT worker filed a federal lawsuit against the city, alleging harassment while she was pregnant.
CHICAGO - An employee with the city’s Department of Transportation claims in a new lawsuit that she was harassed on the job because she became pregnant, was subjected to racist comments, and even threatened by a co-worker with a gun.
The plaintiff, Danyiell Montgomery, filed her lawsuit in federal court this week, naming the city and a co-worker, Michael Bailey. She works as a concrete laborer with the DOT.
‘Why the f*** is she still here?’
Timeline:
In the lawsuit, Montgomery said she has worked for the city since 2016.
In April 2023, she was transferred to a new department and informed her supervisors that she was pregnant.
She also told management she would need time off for a surgical procedure related to her pregnancy the next month. When she returned, she requested to be given "light duty work" to accommodate her pregnancy.
Montgomery claimed her request was met with ridicule, harassment, and discriminatory treatment. She said one of her co-workers asked why she was working in the department since she was pregnant.
"I was actually scared to report it," Montgomery said during an interview with FOX 32 on Wednesday.
Montgomery claims that Bailey was the primary source of the harassment, which she says began on her first day at the job site.
"As he’s working, he’s loud and says, ‘we don’t need any disabled m************ here, if you’re not contributing to the job site, you do not need to be here," Montgomery claimed Bailey said.
In the lawsuit, she listed several comments made to her by co-workers, including:
- "What is a pregnant woman doing here?"
- "We don’t need no lazy woman here. Get her out of here."
- "Why the f*** is she still here?"
- "Don’t you have a husband or something?"
- "Black women and their f****** attitudes."
- "All you Black m************ and your attitudes."
Montgomery claimed the statements were made in front of other workers, including management. She also said some duties were taken away from her unnecessarily because she was pregnant, even though her doctor did not restrict her from the concrete work altogether.
Threatened by a co-worker:
In May 2023, one of Montgomery’s co-workers accosted her and showed her his gun, according to the lawsuit.
She claimed that while she was walking to her car for a lunch break, the co-worker followed her and banged on her car window in front of other employees.
He said, "What the f*** are you doing? You just had a break. Get out of that car and grade some dirt," according to the lawsuit.
He continued, "Don’t you have a husband or something? I don’t want you here. Black women and their f****** attitudes. All you Black m************ and your attitudes."
The co-worker then showed Montgomery his gun "in a threatening manner." The lawsuit claims he told her, "That is why I keep my gun on me at work. I have to work around all these n******. I’m tired of these n****** coming up and thinking they’re privileged. I’m from Bridgeport and we’re doctors and lawyers. I know judges, police officers, and detectives so nothing is going to happen to me."
Montgomery claimed in the lawsuit that the incident caused her "extreme distress and mental anguish."
When she asked if she could report the incident to the Department of Transportation, Montgomery claimed her supervisor gave her a blank sheet of paper, even though there was a specific form she could have filled out.
Montgomery was eventually provided with the proper form to submit her complaint after she contacted the department’s superintendent and a labor relations specialist about the incident.
She claimed the department failed to take action to protect her, and she continued to be assigned to work alongside the co-worker who threatened her.
Montgomery said she continued to experience harassment, including in one instance when a crew member "aggressively threw stakes at her feet, forcing her to bend down to grab them."
Leave of absence:
Eventually, Montgomery took an extended leave of absence between May and November 2023 because of the "extreme stress" she experienced on the job.
Still, when she returned to work that November, Montgomery claimed she was very quickly subjected to more harassment when a co-worker said on a speakerphone, "Bring that Black b**** here. She has no authority to request a transfer."
In her lawsuit, Montgomery asked the court for compensation for lost income, compensatory damages, punitive damages to punish the city, and attorneys' fees.
"He is still an employee to this day that she’s forced to come across from here to there," said Chiquita Hall-Jackson, Montgomery’s attorney.
Hall-Jackson says other colleagues have substantiated Montgomery’s claims and explains that the lawsuit also alleges negligence on behalf of the department.
"We hope that not only does Danyiell personally get justice but that they go in and clean house," Hall-Jackson said. "Someone is allowing this to happen where he feels like, ‘I can get away with this and nothing will ever happen to me.’ He has to be stopped along with anyone who thinks and acts like him."
What's next:
In response to FOX 32’s request for a statement, a spokesperson with the City of Chicago Department of Law said the city "does not comment on pending litigation."
FOX 32 Chicago also reached out to Michael Bailey through his listed phone numbers but was unable to make contact.
The defendants have 21 days to formally respond to the lawsuit, according to Hall-Jackson.
A status hearing is scheduled on July 14 at 9:45 a.m. at the Dirksen Federal Building.