Cicero Boss Sued for Sex Harassment

When Larry Dominick first ran for Cicero town president four years ago, he promised to clean up the town notorious for bad behavior. But today, some of his female employees say Dominick's own behavior could get him into trouble.

"He said if I win will you flash me?" said former police officer Athina Solomos.

“He wanted to e-mail him pictures of my breasts. He said he wanted to have a threesome with me and my mother at the Sybaris. Just disgusting," claimed police officer Janet Llujano.

"He would make vulgar comments to me about what he wanted to do to me sexually," said Ana Maria Rojas.

But, many of these allegations way beyond talking dirty.

"He reached under my vest and grabbed my breast," said Janidet Llujano.

Terry Moran says Dominick physically assaulted his client, Sharon Starzsak. Monday, Starzsak became the fourth Cicero employee to file a sexual harassment suit against Dominick. She says she kept quiet about his abuse for four years because she was terrified of losing her job. Starzsak runs Cicero's animal shelter. She and her parents have health problems and need the health insurance they get from the town. She says that Dominick, a former Cicero police sergeant, bombarded her with dirty text messages.

"I thought about calling the police, but he is the police,” said Starzsak.

When some of the other women filed their lawsuits, their lawyer subpoenaed Starzsak. She says Dominick told her to lie under oath.

"He said deny, deny, deny. I said ‘I can't there are witnesses,’ he said ‘it's your word against theirs,’" said Starzsak.

"She was between a rock and hard place. If she told the truth she feared Larry would fire her," said Starzsak’s lawyer.

Janidet Lujano, a Cicero police officer and mother of three, understands the fear. She says she waited two years before complaining about Dominick's abuse.

“I didn't know what to do,” said Lujano.

“Who you gonna complain to? Nobody. Internal Affairs, they aren't going to do nothing, the town attorney he won't do anything," said Ana Maria Rojas.

Dominick casts a large shadow at Cicero's town hall. He has packed the payroll with relatives and cronies loyal to him. His son is the town's human resources director and his brother-in-law works in Internal Affairs. When Dominick first ran for town president, he was eager to talk with Fox Chicago News. Now, he’s not quite so eager.

Larry Dominick turned down our repeated requests for interviews, but he did deny the allegations in a videotaped deposition. During a lengthy deposition, Dominick held firm insisting he did nothing wrong to any of his female employees. And said he did not tolerate sexual harassment in Cicero

"Zero tolerance means termination," claimed Dominick.

But Athina Solomos says that after she complained to Dominick about her supervisor's harassment, he was promoted twice and she was punished.

"I sent a letter to him and suddenly I'm demoted to the midnight shift," said Solomos.

A Cicero spokesperson says the man was sent to sensitivity training and suspended. He dismisses the women as disgruntled employees who are suing for political reasons.

But Starzsak says she actually campaigned for Dominick in the last election in a desperate bid to hold on to her job. Some of the others say they supported Dominick when he first ran in 2005.

"These are some of the most vile and offensive allegations I have ever heard against a public official," said Better Government Association Director Andy Shaw.

The BGA is calling on law enforcement to step in. Shaw says history has shown Cicero cannot police itself.

"We are calling on Lisa Madigan, Anita Alvarez and Patrick Fitzgerald to go out to Cicero pronto and investigate," said Shaw.

Dominick's spokesperson says the women are exaggerating their fears and no one who has complained or sued has been fired. But the women say working there was punishment enough.