Those who brought a lawsuit alleging sexual assault and battery by Dolton Trustee Andrew Holmes say the Dolton Village Board approved a settlement agreement before both sides agreed.
Attorney Eric White, who is representing the plaintiffs, said Wednesday the village mischaracterized the status of the lawsuit that is still pending. The plaintiffs include a former village and Thornton Township employee who claims Holmes drugged and sexually assaulted her on a 2023 work trip to Las Vegas.
The village declined to provide details of the settlement agreements after they were approved Oct. 6, saying they had not yet been finalized or signed. The lawsuit names Holmes, the village, Thornton Township, and former Dolton Mayor and Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard as defendants.
During a Dolton meeting Oct. 20, village attorney Michael McGrath said the board’s approval of settlement agreements “took people by surprise,” and the case is still open.
“We thought we had that settled, but the plaintiffs in that case backtracked and that is not settled on behalf of the village,” McGrath said.
White said the plaintiffs had not reviewed the terms of the settlement agreements before they went up for vote, which a village spokesperson said is inaccurate.
“An offer was made and accepted by both plaintiffs; however, following board approval, the plaintiffs decided to retract their acceptance and instead requested a counteroffer,” the spokesperson said. “We remain confident that our actions were fair, transparent and conducted in accordance with proper procedure.”
The board of trustees approved the former employee’s settlement 5-0, while the settlement for the other plaintiff, a member of Henyard’s security detail on the trip, was approved despite Trustee Stan Brown voting no and Trustee Kiana Belcher voting present.
“My clients never backtracked on any settlement agreement because there was no final agreement,” White said. “My clients simply refused to agree on the terms you wanted to include as part of the settlement, which they were well within their lawful rights to do.”
White said McGrath, on behalf of the village, declined to negotiate a new settlement agreement.
“We were told that there would be no further offers, which in my view is clearly bad faith negotiation,” White said.
White said the plaintiffs took issue with certain aspects of the village’s proposal, including that Dolton planned “to pick up the bill” for Thornton Township and remove defendants Holmes and Henyard from the lawsuit. White said he is preparing to take the case to trial but is open to returning to the bargaining table.
“The village attorney has my number,” he said.
The Dolton spokesperson said the agreement only releases defendants “in their official capacity in Dolton only.”
“This does not include their personal capacity or the township,” she said.
She added the village “will allow the courts to review the matter and determine the appropriate resolution.”
According to the draft of the proposed agreement, the village offered $15,000 to the former employee and $10,000 to the other plaintiff upon approval of the agreement. Within six months of the agreement’s approval, the village would pay the former employee an additional $60,000 and the other plaintiff $15,000.
In the lawsuit, the former employee alleged while she worked for Dolton and Thornton Township, she went out for dinner with Holmes, whom she thought of as “an uncle.” The woman later reported feeling disoriented, told him so and blacked out, according to the suit.
That night, Holmes called a member of Henyard’s security detail and described “a host of his exploits from the trip, many of a sexual nature,” according to the lawsuit. Holmes allegedly made reference to engaging in sexual activities with the employee and on a video call showed both himself shirtless and the woman, who was partially undressed.
The security officer met with the employee to relay the information provided by Holmes, the lawsuit states, and in “significant distress,” she requested a meeting with Henyard. Henyard allegedly told her that if news of the incident got out, “Henyard would be ruined and all of the work she had done would be lost,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states Henyard asked the officer why the trustee would have called him, and he said he didn’t know other than “to brag.” Henyard in a legal response denied these and other allegations.
According to the lawsuit, the former employee sought damages for the alleged sexual assault as well as for Holmes sharing private sexual images without her consent. She notified Judge Jerry Esrig in August that she switched attorneys from Sweeney Scharkey LLC to Eric M. White.
