College of DuPage (ECWd) –
The exposure of no bid contracts to COD Foundation member’s businesses has become the forefront of our work in the last 6 months. The most egregious exposure of numerous questionable actions was Herricane Graphics, with claims of being an Architect in two separate contracts when in fact they are not.
In December I filed a formal complaint with the Department of Financial and Professional Regulations office on that matter.
As shared in this article, holding yourself out to be an architect more than once is a class 4 felony.
I received word today that the state has turned this over to the Prosecution division in Chicago as there is sufficient evidence that we provided for such prosecution.
“Yes…as I expected, the Design Complaint Committee dispositioned your complaint to be referred to our Prosecutions Dept, located in Chicago. The Committee had sufficient allegation evidence (you provided) to escalate this case to the Legal/Pros process. This should also serve notice to Herricane Graphics, as well as, College of DuPage“
The fact the State is moving forward on this should be viewed as a message to every person out there that you can in fact make a difference in fixing our broken local government. A little bit of effort by a lot of people is what it takes, and I am pleased that the IDFPR has seen this for what it is and is moving forward.
Thank you IDFPR and thank you to all those who helped provide such valuable information for our investigation of Herricane Graphics!
3 Comments
Thomas Bennett
Posted at 11:13h, 12 MarchAn interesting article. I stumbled across it while conducting my own research. In August of last year I was fired by my employer after I discovered, and reported, that the work I had been directed to perform was in violation of 225 ILCS 330/ (The Professional Land Surveyors Act).
By the time I discovered that I had been committing a crime I had already done so 40 times which exposed me to a potential $400,000.00 worth of fines and 1 to 3 years in a state penitentiary.
After trying, in vain, to get my employer to simply admit to the mistake and hire a properly licensed individual or firm I was forced to report the suspected violations t the IDFPR. As in the case described here, the review board concluded that I had provided sufficient evidence to have the case sent to the prosecuting attorneys office.
Because I reported the violations I will not be charged.
The personnel with whom I have dealt at the IDFPR were very helpful and provided assistance every step of the way from confirming that I was in violation of the law and could be held responsible for the penalties to diligently gathering evidence.
The people I worked for, besides exposing me to significant legal liability, have behaved in a most shameful manner. From the moment I reported, internally, that I believed I was in violation of the law they sought to discredit me and finally resorted to termination just two days after my complaint to the IDFPR.
To add insult to injury the tried to block my claim for unemployment insurance by alleging that I was fired for misconduct notwithstanding the fact that they offered me three months’ severance pay to sign a waiver of claims and agree not to make disparaging remarks about the company. In sum, they tried to buy my silence.
I have been out of work since August and have had to file suit against the, Pro Se, for a claim under the Illinois Whistleblower Law and the common law tort of retaliatory discharge.
I moved my entire family from the Gulf Coast to Champaign Illinois two years ago for the sole purpose of accepting a position with my former employer only to be fired for refusing to break the law and reporting it.
RICK SULLIVAN
Posted at 08:00h, 27 FebruaryYes great job Kirk and John
Chris M. Gaines
Posted at 23:18h, 26 FebruaryGood job! Thank you.