Lake Co. Circuit Clerk can’t undo $2.5M verdict for workers fired over politics

A federal judge has agreed to preserve a jury’s verdict ordering the Lake County Circuit Clerk’s Office to pay more than $2.5 million to three workers who say they were fired for supporting a Republican opponent of current Clerk Erin Weinstein.

U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood filed an opinion Dec. 18 denying Weinstein’s request for a new trial on a dispute that dates back to the summer of 2016 when Michelle Higgins, Tiffany Deram and Joshua Smothers said they campaigned for Republican incumbent Keith Brin. The workers sued in October 2017, claiming Weinstein fired them shortly after taking office the previous December.

Higgins and Deram were department chiefs, having joined the office in 1985 and 1998, respectively. Smothers was a supervisor, having joined in 2007. They alleged the new clerk fired them about an hour after being sworn into office, telling them to c...