Prenzler
Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler said Wednesday that he asked a County Board member to resign after allegations of sexual harassment.
Former Director of Community Development Kristen Poshard has filed a federal lawsuit against County Board member Phil Chapman and Madison County over the allegations. According to a release from Prenzler, on June 7, 2017, Poshard told Prenzler and County Administrator Doug Hulme for the first time that she was being sexually harassed by County Board member Phil Chapman. During that meeting, Chapman arrived at her office building and began waiting for her in the reception area. Prenzler and Hulme escorted Chapman out of that building and took him one block down the street to the County Administration Building, where they discussed the allegations.
“Sexual harassment has no place in my administration and I take every complaint of sexual harassment very seriously,” Prenzler said. “As the result of that conversation, I asked Chapman to resign from the County Board. He refused.”
With the approval of the State’s Attorney’s Office, the Prenzler administration retained retired Judge Jim Hackett to investigate the charge of sexual harassment. Prenzler said his office cooperated fully with Hackett and made all witnesses, records and files available to him. His report was made available for each County Board member to review.
Poshard was provided time off and safe accommodations, but eventually refused to return to work. During her long absence, issues arose in her department that needed to be addressed by a director, Prenzler said.
After thorough deliberation, the County Board, on Oct. 17, 2017, unanimously voted to remove her from her position as director of community development.
Poshard's lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.