Allegations of Retaliation Against Cicero Town President

Chicago - Shortly after Sharon Starzyk filed a sexual harrassment suit against her boss, Cicero Town President Larry Dominick, she says she was told by another town official to beware.

Whether a warning or a threat, Starzyk, who ran the town animal shelter, says she has been under attack in Cicero ever since she accused Dominick of groping her, sending her dirty text messages and telling her to lie under oath about it.

In July while at work, her car was spray painted on town property with a four-letter word on it.

Then a month later, Cicero police arrested her at the shelter charging the 87-pound Starzak with battery -- accusing her of throwing a pop can at a male employee -- an accusation she denies.

Last month, she was fired without warning from the job she had held for nine years.

Jandatte Luhano, a single mom, also lost her job after we reported her allegations of sexual abuse against Dominick.

She was an auxillary police officer. Dominick dissolved the unit and turned it into a community policing staff and required people to reapply for their jobs.

She was not rehired.

"I was really surprised. I thought I would get my job back.," said Luhano. "I was there 10 years and a sergant."

She says before she lost her job, there was constant retaliation at work after she filed her federal lawsuit.

None of the women we interviewed in June who complained about sexual harassment are still working for the town. One found a new job away from Cicero.

Dominick won't do an interview with FOX Chicago News because of the pending litigation. But a spokesperson for Cicero says the allegations of retaliation have no merit.

Just two days ago, the town hired a new spokesperson, radio talk show host Ray Hanania.

He had the same job under former town president and convicted felon Betty Loren Maltese.

He says Luhano was one of three people not rehired and it was because of her poor work record not the lawsuit. Hanania says one time she had crashed a town car, and had been disciplined numerous times.

Hanania says the way Starzyk ran the animal shelter was at issue. He said the Cicero inspector general has conducted an investigation and recommended Starzyk face criminal charges for the way she ran the animal shelter.

Yet just two weeks before Starzyk filed her lawsuit, Dominick renewed her contract to run the shelter. In the past, he always went out of his way to publicly praise her work there.

In his state of Cicero speech, Dominick said she ran the shelter with "tireless love and dedication."

Last December, the same board of trustees that fired her commended Starzyk for her "dedication to animals" and in 2005 she received the town humanitarian of the year award.

Moran says if Starzyk is a criminal, so are Cicero's own attorneys and other town officials because she got written authorization for everything she did at the shelter.

Luhano and her attorney insist town personnel records show she had a better work record than many of the others who were rehired.

They say she crashed the car during a flood.

Starzyk says she will probally lose her home. She has a chronic health condition and now has no insurance and has lost 37 pounds due to the stress.

As hard as it has been, Luhano says she doesn't regret filing the lawsuit.

Both cases are expected to go to trial within the next year.