Twenty miles south of Chicago, Democratic Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard, facing many investigations, is now being sued by a former human resources manager of a Cook County township after being terminated from her job following her return from family medical leave.
Sandra Tracy appeared on Fox on Thursday with her lawyer Matt Custardo, who also represents two other former Thorton township employees suing Henyard, to share how, upon her return, she had no place to work in the building and then was fired after complaining about not being paid for six weeks.
“She’s used to being a bully, intimidating people,” Custardo said. “She’s not backing down, but neither are we.”
This is just the latest controversy Henyard faces, in addition to scrutiny from Dolton residents over her mismanagement of city funds. The Dolton village board has asked the FBI to come in and investigate the lack of transparency in the handling of taxpayer dollars, according to Custardo. The mayor is already being investigated by the FBI for allegedly weaponizing the police force and conducting raids on business owners who claim the act is in retaliation for not donating to Henyard’s campaign.
The mayor also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on security, which her critics argue takes police officers away from protecting the town.
“I think that she spends the money on security because she just loves it,” Dolton trustee Brittnay Norwood said. “She likes the thought of being surrounded by police officers. I think it makes her feel more important. The police are simply working under her instructions, but it’s also sad. It’s sad because we need the police patrolling the streets, and they’re with her instead.”
During the city’s monthly board meeting, security measures were ramped up, leaving some residents left outside.
One resident took to the microphone to claim that the mayor misallocated funds from her Tiffany Henyard CARES Foundation, which stands for Cancer And Remission Empowering Survivors.
“I apologize if I seem irate; I had my radiation today. I have cancer. Of course I do,” the woman said. “Tiffany stole money from a cancer foundation. How dare you? How dare you steal — and I helped you with your campaign — how dare you steal from us? I have to buy my wigs. Are you going to reimburse me for the wigs that I’ve been spending my money on?”
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Henyard also caught flack for allegedly using taxpayer dollars to fund a trip to Las Vegas, where her assistant claimed that she herself was sexually assaulted by a fellow trustee. Upon making these allegations, Henyard’s assistant was fired. The alleged assault, which the assistant says occurred in May 2023, is at the center of an investigation by the Illinois Department of Human Rights.
“You need to address what happened in Vegas and you have been silent, and it’s not — that’s not going to fly,” a resident said. “You know what happened in Vegas, you know what happened, you should be addressing it, saying something to the residents about it and we want to know where our money is at. We’re tired of you just spending our money any type of way that you want to. It’s not fair. It needs to go across the board.”