Insurer Wanted To Drop Oak Brook Before $2M In Settlements: Lawsuit

OAK BROOK, IL – Oak Brook's insurer wanted to drop the village before the agency ended up paying $2 million in sexual harassment settlements.

Last November, Oak Brook sued the Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency, which has insured the village since the late 1970s.

Earlier this month, the Village Board voted to drop the insurer, saying it found a better deal elsewhere. This was after the insurer covered the entirety of the settlements in March.

According to the lawsuit, the insurer last year informed the village it wanted to terminate its agreement.

In its notice, the insurer said the village failed to enact a restrictive police chase policy.

The insurer also said the village failed to provide documents related to the harassment claims.

But the village said it furnished the records after it was told about the problem. It said the agency then acknowledged the village complied with the request.

In the lawsuit, the village said the insurer failed to follow its own due-process procedures in terminating a client.

Oak Brook also said its police pursuit policy was similar to those of the agency's other insured towns, but those municipalities were not informed they would be dumped.

In the lawsuit, Oak Brook said the insurer told the village it could avoid expulsion if it accepted the insurer's $400,000 offer for the women who accused a former deputy police chief of sexual harassment.

The women wanted a total of $3.5 million, the lawsuit said.

According to the litigation, the insurer's "expulsion posture" was designed to force the village to accept the lowball offer, so the insurer could avoid its obligations.

In the lawsuit, the village sought an injunction against the insurer to avoid "imminent, irreparable harm."

On March 27, Village President Larry Herman and Police Chief Brian Brockis signed settlements with the women.

The Village Board never voted on the agreements in an open meeting. That effectively kept the matter secret from the public until Patch reported on the settlements earlier this month.

The village president and village trustees have not returned messages for comment about the president's authority to sign the agreements without board approval.

The insurer, which did not sign the settlements, has declined to comment on its relationship with the village.