An out-of-county judge has dismissed a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former Madison County administrators Doug Hulme and Rob Dorman, who were fired by county board members in 2020.
Greene County Circuit Judge Zachary Schmidt held that the plaintiffs “failed to plead the elements of a conspiracy, in that they just generally and vaguely charge that the individuals participated in a conspiracy but do not plead facts supporting this allegation."
In his May 31 order, Schmidt also wrote that Hulme and Dorman failed to plead "who did what, and in furtherance of any agreement. This Court cannot discern, even from 92 pages of Plaintiffs’ Complaint, what the conspiracy was, and who took actions in furtherance of it.”
According to a release from Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine, the county has been forced to expend more than $480,000 since the two were fired to defend more than a dozen lawsuits that also named several current and former county officials, and a retired judge.
Schmidt was assigned to the 2023 case alleging their firings were improper and part of a conspiracy (23-LA-1119) by request of Chief Judge Stephen Stobbs.
In a release, Haine commended the work of his office’s Civil Division, which has coordinated the county’s defense against the Hulme-Dorman litigation.
“Time and time again, the Courts have dismissed the pleadings of these two serial failed litigants,” Haine stated. “But unfortunately, their frivolous lawsuits have still cost the County hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses due to the volume of their filings. It’s a tragic waste, to say the least. I hope it stops soon, but in the meantime, I commend our legal team for their successes and hard work. We will always aggressively defend the taxpayers of Madison County against meritless lawsuits.”
Dorman, Hulme or both have filed a total of 20 lawsuits against the county or county officials, with more than 15 of them having been resolved in favor of the defendants.
"None of their cases has even advanced beyond the pleading stage, or the very beginning of the case," according to Haine's office.
"In nine cases, the County has won outright dismissals before the case advanced at all. Other cases remain pending. Hulme and Dorman have appealed several of their losses, and have lost every time on appeal. Courts have even imposed sanctions against both Dorman and Hulme ($17,358.75 against Dorman; and $9,630.75 against Hulme)."
Haine's office stated that sanctions against the two have been "far greater than Dorman’s only arguable litigation success against the County, a case that was dismissed as moot but for which Dorman was awarded $1,000 for expenses. He appealed that award, and lost on appeal."
The release also states that Hulme and Dorman have "flooded" the county with hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests since their firing.
"Records show that in just the past three years Dorman, Dorman’s spouse, and Hulme alone have filed more than 250 Freedom of Information Act requests to county officials," the release states. "For example, in just the four-month period from February through May of this year, Dorman and Hulme have filed at least 14 FOIA requests with county offices.
"On top of that, during the same four-month period, Dorman and Hulme have filed at least six FOIA appeals with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, seeking reviews of county responses to the pair’s FOIA requests."
Madison County Sheriff Jeff Connor and former Treasurer and current County Board Chairman Chris Slusser are among the numerous officials named in Hulme and Dorman's lawsuits.
"Even though this litigation was without merit, I’m grateful for the State’s Attorney’s vigorous defense against it," Connor stated in the release.
"As we work to fulfil our mission of reducing crime and enhancing public safety, it’s unfortunate that the County has had to expend valuable resources to defend against these types of lawsuits."
Slusser added that tax dollars would be better spent on "keeping our neighborhoods safe, growing our communities and providing essential services to constituents."