The city of Valparaiso’s human resources director is suing the mayor and the city’s former administrator, claiming she was discriminated against in pay and working conditions because of her gender, making thousands of dollars less than her male counterparts in the same job classification.
Kathy Lynn Gralik filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Hammond Tuesday and, in addition to Mayor Matt Murphy and former city administrator Mike Jessen, also named the consulting firm Organizational Development Solutions, Inc., and its president, Desila Rosetti.
The firm, according to the lawsuit, was hired to conduct an audit of Gralik’s department, the results of which Gralik said were inaccurate.
“After nearly 23 years of service to a city and its employees that I love, I was targeted for doing my job well by assisting women with complaints against members of the Murphy Administration,” Gralik said in a release provided by her attorneys.
Gralik’s grievances, according to the release, include violations of her constitutional rights arising from gender discrimination, including pay discrimination; harassment; retaliation; and defamation.
Gralik has worked for the city since September 2000, according to the lawsuit. She has been human resources director for seven years and is still employed by the city, though she has been informed that her position will be eliminated by Dec. 31 if not sooner as part of a department restructuring suggested by ODS.
The city, on the firm’s recommendation, hired a chief human resources officer, a position Gralik applied for and did not receive, according to the lawsuit. In June, when the new CHRO was hired, “the City of Valpo and Murphy demoted Gralik from her department head position and removed her from the city’s leadership team.”
City officials told Gralik to apply for a deputy CHRO position but have not provided details on the application process, “despite her having repeatedly inquired about her future employment with the city.”
“The City is aware of a lawsuit being filed by a current city employee against the city and others,” Patrick Lyp, the city attorney, said in an email. “The city does not comment on pending litigation — although the city intends to vigorously defend itself against the accusations raised.”
In her lawsuit, Gralik said that women department heads, who are in the minority in the city, do not receive the same office support as their male counterparts, including having administrative assistants rather than higher-paid executive assistants.
Additionally, she noted that Murphy and Jessen, her supervisor from Jan. 1, 2020 until he resigned on May 1, ignored the recommendations of a 2022 wage study and put into place raises that actually increased the disparity in pay between men and women with the same job classification.
Gralik’s annual salary for 2022 was $73,895, according to the lawsuit, while a male department head in the same job classification had a salary that year of $88,198.
A pay raise for 2023 still left Gralik with a salary that was “the lowest of all Executive B employees” and below the minimum required by the city’s salary ordinance. In April, she received a pay bump retroactive to Jan. 1.
“The April 2023 pay increase did not remedy the past pay disparity nor the gender differences in pay,” according to the suit. “Despite the recent pay raises, Gralik remains the lowest paid Executive B employee for the City of Valpo.”
In the news release about filing the lawsuit, Gralik’s attorney, Kathleen DeLaney said, “Ms. Gralik is a dedicated public servant to the City of Valparaiso and doesn’t deserve the treatment she has experienced. We look forward to presenting her case in court.”
DeLaney’s co-counsel, Karrie Schwartz, added in the release, “despite devoting her working life to the City of Valparaiso, Gralik has been subject to terribly unfair pay and conditions. She has bravely stepped up to remedy this situation, not just for herself, but for others employed by the City.”
Gralik seeks compensatory damages; emotional distress damages; reputational damages; liquidated and/or punitive damages; and attorneys’ fees and costs in unspecified amounts in the lawsuit.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
