EDWARDSVILLE – Former Madison County board member Lisa Ciampoli is alleged to have defamed former information technology director Rob Dorman and cost him his job, according to a suit Dorman filed on Aug. 5.
His lawyer Richard Bullock of Collinsville wrote, “The criminal investigation precipitated by the defendant’s false and defamatory statement resulted in no arrests and no indictments, and the plaintiff was completely exonerated.
“Nonetheless, the plaintiff lost his job and his professional reputation was damaged.”
Ciampoli provided a statement to the Record: "I will not be intimidated by a frivolous lawsuit filed by a fired county employee. I will always stand up to bullies in both parties, whether it’s Mr. Dorman or Mike Madigan."
She is running on the Republican ticket against Democrat incumbent State Rep. Katie Stuart in the 112th House District.
Bullock wrote that on Jan. 4, 2018, Ciampoli made a statement to Granite City detective Jeffrey Donahey with a specially created task force made up of local law enforcement.
He wrote that the statement resulted in Donahey filing an affidavit.
Judges kept the affidavit under seal until this April 7.
“Lisa Ciampoli provided information surrounding improper activity when she filed petitions for precinct committee person while at the front desk of the county clerk’s office,” Bullock wrote.
“She indicated that seconds after she arrived, an individual by the name of Robert Dorman confronted her and interfered with the filing of the petition."
The affidavit indicated that during her encounter with Dorman, "Dorman tried to swipe the paperwork out of her hand.”
Bullock wrote that the statement was false and defamatory.
“Video surveillance of the county clerk’s office establishes that the alleged incident never happened,” Bullock wrote.
After Ciampoli spoke to Donahey, task force members raided the offices of Dorman and administrator Doug Hulme.
Outside judge Jerry Crisel disqualified state’s attorney Tom Gibbons from the case and assigned Illinois attorney general Kwame Raoul as special prosecutor.
Raoul found insufficient evidence to bring charges, and he closed the case.
David Vucich, leader of the task force, then shared with county board members a recording of a conversation between Hulme and treasurer Chris Slusser.
The task force had wired Slusser and sent him to Hulme.
Slusser had stated earlier that his decision to report to law enforcement what he believed was improper activity was made because "Madison County has had a reputation involving corruption in the past, and there were instances in past scandals in which elected officials knew what was going on, but remained silent."
The investigation of Dorman and Hulme centered on accusations that they improperly accessed email communcations of county officials.
In April, the county board fired Hulme and Dorman.
Hulme and Dorman sued the board, claiming it violated the Open Meetings Act.
County counsel John Gilbert answered their complaint on Aug. 10, writing that actions were taken in compliance with the Act.