EAST ST. LOUIS – U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Beatty has dismissed a wrongful termination complaint filed by former U.S. attorney Stephen Wigginton without prejudice, finding it devoid of details.
He set an Oct. 6 deadline for plaintiff April Len to amend it.
Len worked for the Illinois Secretary of State from 2000 to 2018.
Wigginton filed a $10 million complaint for her in July 2019, against the Secretary of State, Michael Mayer, Randy Blue, and Jay Morgan.
Wigginton claimed they “deprived plaintiff of her constitutional right to liberty and to a fair hearing without due process of law.”
He claimed they withheld exculpatory evidence, engaged in subornation of perjury, and coerced witnesses to produce false evidence.
He claimed their misconduct resulted in Len being denied a fair hearing with the Merit Commission Board.
He claimed they failed to intervene to prevent misconduct including fabrication of evidence and taunting and threats by Blue and Mayer.
“As of the time that the plaintiff was going to be interviewed, the individual defendants reached an agreement among themselves to frame plaintiff,” Wigginton wrote.
“They joked about hitting her and conspired to cover it up by lying and publicly stating that she fell on a wet floor.”
Wigginton claimed Len suffered injuries including emotional distress.
He alleged malice, willfulness and reckless indifference to Len’s right.
Assistant attorney general Joseph Bracey moved to dismiss the complaint on Dec. 23, asking the court to take notice of the merit commission’s findings.
He pleaded immunity for the state three ways and asserted other defenses.
Edwardsville attorney Todd Sivia entered an appearance on Jan. 22, obtained an extension of time to respond, and responded in April.
He identified Mayer as office director for the Secretary of State, Blue as inspector general, and Morgan as regional manager.
He claimed Mayer’s bias permeated the proceedings against Len.
He claimed the court shouldn’t take notice of the merit commission’s findings because Len disputes the process she received.
He claimed state immunity doesn’t apply to Mayer, Blue and Morgan because they violated the law or exceeded their authority.
Sivia’s response filled holes in Wigginton’s complaint but didn’t save it.
“Plaintiff’s argument is predicated on a host of facts, none of which can be fairly found in the complaint,” Beatty wrote on Sept. 16.
He found it offered little more than conclusory allegations and legal conclusions, and lacked facts that would allow him to even draw an inference in Len’s favor.
“The lack of detail here is especially critical given that many of plaintiff’s other claims depend on this due process claim,”
He declined to take judicial notice of the merit commission’s findings.
Earlier this year he set trial next March.
Paul Marks of Sivia’s firm entered an appearance for Len in August.
On Dec. 26, Edwardsville police arrested Wigginton after a traffic collision.
They charged him with driving under the influence, his third case in three years.
On Jan. 8, Wigginton voluntarily placed himself on inactive status at the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
Wigginton did not withdraw from the case, but the attorney commission’s website shows he wasn’t authorized to practice as of Sept. 19.