2023 01 06 Toole FM Complaint at Law
2023 01 06 Toole FM Complaint at Law
1/6/2023 2:15 PM
Melissa Quick
Clerk of the Circuit Court
Vermilion County, Illinois
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT KC, Deputy Clerk
VERMILION COUNTY, ILLINOIS
DOUGLAS F. TOOLE )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) No. 2023-MR-
) 2023MR000001
VERMILION COUNTY BOARD )
OF HEALTH, )
)
Defendant. )
COMPLAINT
NOW COMES Plaintiff, Douglas F. Toole, by and through his attorney, Ronald S.
Langacker of Langacker Law, and hereby brings the following Complaint against Defendant,
Vermilion County Board of Health (“Board”). In support thereof, Plaintiff states as follows:
1. This Court has jurisdiction to grant relief pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS § 120/3
et seq.
2. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/3 because the violation of the Open
Meetings Act at issue herein occurred in this Circuit. Venue is also proper under Section 5/2-
101 of the Code of Civil Procedure because the acts complained of herein occurred in
PARTIES
3. Plaintiff, Douglas Toole, (“Toole”) resides in Vermilion County, Illinois. Plaintiff has been
employed with the Vermilion County Health Department (“VCHD”) since 1988, and in 2016
was appointed as the Public Health Administrator for VCHD. Plaintiff served as the Public
Health Administrator until November 16, 2022. (Exhibit A, Affidavit of Douglas Toole, ¶1).
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4. During the time Plaintiff was employed as the Public Health Administrator, he met and/or
exceeded the expectation of his employer, the Vermilion County Board of Health. (Ex. A, Pl.
Aff. ¶3).
5. Defendant, Vermilion County Board of Health (“Board”), is constituted within Illinois for the
administration of the VCHD serving Vermilion County, Illinois. Currently, eleven (11)
members serve on the Board, with a quorum consisting of six (6) members.
6. Defendant is a public body as defined under the Illinois Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/1.02,
with its principal place of organization within Vermilion County, Illinois, and the actions at
issue occurred within Vermilion County. The Board meets on a regular basis in accordance
7. Plaintiff, as Public Health Administrator, is appointed and supervised by the Board. The Board,
STATEMENT OF FACTS
8. The regularly scheduled Board of Health meeting was to take place at 6:00 p.m. on November
10, 2022, at the Vermilion County Health Department, 200 S. College St., Danville, Illinois.
9. In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, the Board previously published the meeting’s
10. On the agenda, under “New Business,” the Board planned to meet in executive/closed session,
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public body.” More specifically, the Board intended to evaluate Plaintiff’s performance as
11. At the time the meeting was scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. November 10, only five of the
eleven Board members were physically present. 1 Board member Wes Bieritz had advised
Plaintiff that he had a conflict and would arrive late to the meeting. (Ex. A, Pl. Aff. ¶7)
12. From 6:00 p.m. until 6:52 p.m., the Board took no official action due to lack of a quorum, and
13. At 6:52 p.m., Bieritz had yet to arrive, and the Board—still without a quorum—told Plaintiff
they wished to discuss his annual performance evaluation and asked that he leave the
conference room. At that time, the Board did not vote to go into closed session as required by
14. At around 7:50 p.m., Board member Bieritz arrived and joined the in-progress Board meeting.
The Board continued their private discussion until 8:45 p.m. (Ex. A, Pl. Aff. ¶10)
15. At 8:45 p.m., Plaintiff was allowed to rejoin the meeting. The Board did not move to return to
open session. Board member Priest called the meeting to order and went through the listed
16. After returning to open session, Board Member Brad Gross advised the Plaintiff that he wished
to discuss Plaintiff’s performance evaluation at the VCHD on November 15, 2022. No vote or
final action had taken place in relation to the Board’s closed session discussion. (Ex. A, Pl.
Aff. ¶12)
17. The Board meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:10 p.m. that evening without the Board
scheduling a time and/or date for the December 2022 Board meeting. (Ex. A, Pl. Aff. ¶11)
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A sixth board member, Celeste Widolff, called into the meeting at 6:00 p.m,; however, she did not meet the
requirements necessary to attend the meeting by other means as outlined in 5 ILCS 120/7(a).
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B. November 16, 2022: the Board Provides Plaintiff with an Ultimatum: Resign
Immediately or be Fired.
18. On November 15, Brad Gross informed Plaintiff that he needed to that needed to postpone the
proposed meeting to review Plaintiff’s performance evaluation until the following day,
19. On November 16, Plaintiff met with Brad Gross, Nancy Boose, the HR Director of Vermilion
County, and three other Board members at the VCHD. (Ex. A, Pl. Aff. ¶14)
20. Gross advised Plaintiff that the Board “had lost faith” in Plaintiff’s ability to lead the Health
Department, and provided him with an ultimatum: either resign or he would be immediately
21. Shocked by the ultimatum, and faced with prospect of immediate termination, Plaintiff was
involuntarily coerced by the Board into tendering his immediate resignation. (Ex. A, Pl. Aff.
¶16)
22. The Open Meetings Act provides that all public bodies shall keep written minutes of their
meetings, whether open or closed, Minutes shall include (1) the date, time and place of the
meeting; (2) the members of the public body recorded as either present or absent and whether
the members were physically present or present by means of video or audio conference; and
(3) a summary of discussion on all matters proposed, deliberated, or decided, and a record of
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23. The Board convened a special meeting on December 6, 2022. Contained within the Board’s
agenda for the meeting was approval of the prior minutes of the November 10, 2022 meeting,
(Exhibit C).
24. The proposed minutes from the Board’s November 10, 2022 meeting contained numerous
a. The meeting was not called to order at 6:00 p.m. because a quorum was not present at
that time;
b. Celeste Widolff was not physically present, but attended remotely by telephone;
c. Wes Bieritz was not physically present at the meeting until approximately 7:50 p.m.;
d. No motion was made at 6:52 p.m. to go into closed session; moreover, Wes Bieritz
could not have made a motion to go to closed session at 6:52 p.m., as he did not arrive
f. The Board did not schedule the next meeting of the Board to take place at December
COUNT I
(Violation of the Open Meetings Act)
25. Plaintiff repeats and re-alleges all of the previous paragraphs in this Complaint as if fully set
forth herein.
26. At all times relevant, the Board is required to comply with the provisions of Illinois’ Open
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27. Sec. 120/2(e) of the Open Meetings Act states “no final action may be taken at a closed
meeting. Final action shall be preceded by a public recital of the nature of the matter being
considered and other information that will inform the public of the business being conducted.”
28. Defendant violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act as shown by but not limited to the following
actions:
a. Adjourned to closed session in the November 10, 2022 meeting without a quorum;
b. Failed to take a vote to go into closed session in the November 10, 2022 meeting;
c. Took final action in closed session to notify Plaintiff of an ultimatum—to either resign
e. Failed to take any final action related to Plaintiff’s employment in open session,
29. Plaintiff has been damaged in amounts to be proven at trial, including suffering,
A. Declare null and void the final actions taken against Plaintiff at the Board meeting held on
B. Enter an order vacating and expunging the Board’s decision to constructively discharge
Plaintiff;
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D. Enter a public declaration that Defendant violated the Open Meetings Act by one or more of
E. Authorize an in-camera review of the record of the closed session meeting pursuant to Section
G. Assess reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred by Plaintiff in
pursuing this action as authorized pursuant to Section 3 of the Open Meetings Act); and
H. Any other such relief as this Court deems necessary and just.
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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
VERMILION COUNTY, ILLINOIS
DOUGLAS F. TOOLE )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) No. 2023-MR-
)
VERMILION COUNTY BOARD )
OF HEALTH, )
)
Defendant. )
VERIFICATION
Under penalties as provided by law pursuant to Section 1-109 of the Code of Civil
Procedure, the undersigned certifies that the statements set forth in this instrument are true and
correct, except as to matters therein stated to be on information and belief and as to such matters
the undersigned certifies as aforesaid that he verily believes the same to be true.
Date Plaintiff
Douglas F. Toole
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
VERMILION COUNTY, ILLINOIS
DOUGLAS F. TOOLE )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) No. 2023-MR-
)
VERMILION COUNTY BOARD )
OF HEALTH, )
)
Defendant. )
AFFIDAVIT
I, Douglas F. Toole, am over 21 years of age, under no legal disability, and hereby testify
to the following:
1. I have been employed with the Vermilion County Health Department (“VCHD”) since 1988,
and was appointed as Public Health Administrator for VCHD in 2016. I served as
2. As the Public Health Administrator, I reported to the Vermilion County Board of Health
(“Board”).
3. As the Public Health Administrator, I met and/or exceeded the expectation of the Board.
4. As part of my duties as Public Health Administrator, I attended regular and special Board
meetings.
5. On November 10, 2022, the Board of Health Meeting was scheduled at the Vermilion County
6. On the agenda, under “New Business,” the Board planned to meet in executive/closed session,
Exhibit A 1
public body.” More specifically, I understood the Board intended to evaluate my performance
7. At the time the November 10 meeting was scheduled to begin, only five of the eleven Board
members were physically present. Board member Wes Bieritz had informed me that he had
another meeting at 5:30, but that he would arrive late to the meeting.
8. From 6:00 p.m. until 6:52 p.m., the Board took no official action. At 6:52 p.m., the Board
advised that they wished to discuss my annual performance evaluation and asked that I leave
9. I started a cassette tape-recorder so that the closed-door meeting would be recorded, and I went
11. At around 7:50 p.m., Board member Bieritz arrived and joined the in-progress Board meeting.
12. At 8:45 p.m., I was allowed to rejoin the meeting. The meeting was called to order without a
vote to return to open session, and the Board members rapidly voted on the action items
13. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:10 p.m. that evening. No mention was made of
14. During the November 10 meeting, Brad Gross informed me that he wanted to review my
15. On November 15, Brad Gross informed me that needed to postpone the meeting to review my
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Agenda: Board of Health Meeting
Time: 6:00 PM
Day/Date Thursday, November 10, 2022
Place: MCH Classroom, Vermilion County Health Department, 200 S. College St. Danville, IL
1. Call to Order
2. Approval of Agenda
3. Audience Comments
5. Fiscal Status
A. Budget and Expenditure Report for September and October, 2022
B. State and federal grant updates
C. County fiscal update
6. Old Business
A. Electronics collection update
B. Program updates
1. Environmental Health
2. Emergency Preparedness
3. Immunizations / Communicable Disease
4. WIC
C. Administrator update
7. New Business
A. Executive Session: Pursuant to the Illinois Open Meeting Act, Illinois Compiled
Statutes 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (1), “the appointment, employment, compensation,
discipline, performance evaluation or dismissal of specific employees of the
public body……”
B. Administrator Evaluation
C. Nominating Committee Presentation of Slate of Officers and Election
D. Food Ordinance revisions
E. Cost Principles policy
F. Cash Management / Cash Distribution policy
G. Proposed 2022 Board of Health Meeting schedule
H. Medical Director agreement
8. Items of Information
A. Report on Recent Site Visits, Evaluations, Audits and Certifications
B. Staffing
C. Next Meeting
9. Adjournment
NEXT MEETING: TBD
Exhibit B
VERMILION COUNTY HEAL TH DEPARTMENT
BOARD OF HEAL TH MEETING
November 10, 2022
6:00 PM
Present: Carla Priest, Brad Gross, Wes Bieritz, Celeste Widoff, Paulina Padjen,
Marla Mackiewicz, Bob Jones
A motion was made to approve the regular minutes of the July 26, 2022, with
corrections and the September 20, 2022, minutes.
Fiscal Status
The Board reviewed the Budget Performance Report, Income Statement, and the
Balance Sheet for October 2022.
Exhibit
1 C
A motion was made to approve of the financial reports for October 2022 as presented.
Old Business:
Public Health Emergency Preparedness- Amy Lacy has resigned from the
Emergency Planning Coordinator.
Immunizations - Flu number vaccinations are down. This could be due from most
citizens being concerned about the Covid vaccines.
WIC (Women's, Infants and Children}- The drive up is still how WIC is operating.
COVID 19 Mass Vaccination clinics - We were able to get the new vaccine and we
have a clinic planned for November 16, 2022.
New Business:
Executive Session: Pursuant to the Illinois Open Meeting Act, Illinois Compiled
Statutes 5 ILCS 120/2 ( c) (1), "the appointment, employment, compensations,
discipline, performance evaluation or dismissal of specific employees of the
public body ... "
A motion was made to approve Brad Gross as President of the Board of Health.
A motion was made to approve Paulina Padjen as Vice President of the Board of
Health.
.A motion was made to approve Carla Priest as Secretary of the Board of Health.
A motion was made to approve proposed Cash management/ Cash Distribution policy.
Items of Information:
The next meeting will be Tuesday, December 6, 2022, at 6:00 PM at the Health
Department.
Clayton Fauver
Recording Secretary
Carla Priest
Secretary, Board of Health