Wrongful termination and whistle-blowing violations are among the issues in a lawsuit against individuals in Iroquois County government.

The suit, filed in June, stems from a brewing controversy involving former Animal Control Warden Jamie Fanning.

Named in the suit are County Board Chairman John Shure, Tax Committee Chairman Marvin Stichnoth, Animal Control Administrator Dr. Hany Youssef, and the County.

Jamie Fanning is represented by attorney Chris Minelli. He said “it comes down to improper retaliation; we allege Ms Fanning was improperly fired for whistleblowing and that defamation of character issues will hurt her future employment.”

Minelli said nobody is above the law regardless of their titles within county government.

Complaints, Minelli said, were alleged, discussed and apparently, protocol wasn’t followed, according to the premise of the litigation on file...

“Protocol must be followed on all levels,” Minelli adds, “and you can eliminate a lot of problems. Proper procedure wasn’t followed and you end up with costly litigation.”

The lawsuit was filed June 21st. The case was delayed when Minelli admitted, he didn’t follow thru. But now, all defendants have been properly served.

Iroquois County’s liability insurance carrier....Governmental Inter-Insurance Exchange...will represent the county.

94.1 WGFA