Why can't politicians keep it in their pants? Mayor Norquist may have ruined a promising career when he fingered Figueuroa. Bob Uecker issues a damning no-comment.

BUT I WAS JUST TRYING TO KEEP WARM!

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Norquist releases complaint

Figueroa attempts suicide, police say

By GREG J. BOROWSKI of the Journal Sentinel staff

Last Updated: Dec. 8, 2000

Former mayoral staffer Marilyn Figueroa was rushed to the hospital after a suicide attempt Friday, moments after Mayor John O. Norquist publicly released the highly explicit sexual harassment complaint she filed this week against the city.

Figueroa remained hospitalized Friday night with a cut wound to the forearm, said Police Chief Arthur Jones. "We're filing an attempted suicide report," Jones said. The wound was not considered life-threatening, he said.

The events lent a strange twist to a surreal day, in which Norquist himself released Figueroa's complaint, a document that depicts him as a vindictive bully who ran a racist office.

The 15-page complaint, filed Monday with the state Equal Rights Division, was distributed to reporters at an afternoon news conference, where Norquist was flanked by his wife, Susan Mudd, and attorney, Anne Shindell. The news conference was broadcast live on some radio stations.

The complaint alleges numerous acts of "coerced" sexual intercourse, including in Norquist's office at City Hall and his home, along with many "highly offensive" sex telephone calls and "gross and offensive" touching. It also alleges that Norquist, to get Figueroa to comply with his sexual demands, threatened to cut off or reduce federal block grant funding for some community groups serving the Hispanic and African-American communities.

In a brief statement, Norquist said he and Mudd decided to release the document - which they read together Friday morning - trusting "people to judge for themselves the truthfulness of the attacks on me and my family."

Norquist, 51, has said the relationship, which ended a year ago, was purely consensual. Figueroa, 41, has filed complaints at the state and federal levels that allege sexual harassment and racial discrimination, arguing the five-year relationship with Norquist was unwanted and unavoidable.

Her attorney, Victor Arellano, has promised a federal civil rights lawsuit will soon be filed. Unlike the complaints, which can name only the city, a lawsuit could also name Norquist personally, as Figueroa's former employer. Even then, taxpayers could still be forced to pay the bill from any judgment or settlement, if Norquist is deemed to have been sued in his role as mayor.

Arellano could not be reached Friday evening, but in an interview with the Journal Sentinel earlier Friday he criticized statements made about Figueroa this week by Norquist and Shindell.

"They have portrayed her in a false light by claiming she filed the complaint because he wouldn't pay any money," Arellano said. "That is the worst spin in this I have seen."

An ambulance was called to Figueroa's south side home at 2:55 p.m. Friday, moments after the conclusion of the Norquist news conference, which began shortly after 2:30 p.m. in a crowded conference room at his attorney's Third Ward office.

Figueroa was taken to St. Luke's Medical Center, where officials declined to provide information on her condition.

"The people who were there wouldn't tell the police anything," a police source said.

Capt. Paul Stuhmer said no other adults were in the home at the time of the suicide attempt, but another adult - a man he would not identify - was in the home with Figueroa when police arrived.

Later Friday, Norquist released the following statement: "I understand that Marilyn Figueroa was admitted to the hospital this afternoon. We're not aware of the details, but I hope she has a speedy recovery. Susan's and my thoughts are with her and her family."

Arellano had given Norquist and Shindell a deadline of noon Dec. 1 - a week ago Friday - to respond to an offer in which Figueroa would not pursue her claims against the mayor if Norquist paid her $275,000.

That afternoon, the deadline past, Norquist held a news conference on the steps of his south side home to admit the long-rumored affair with Figueroa, who left her $55,000 a year job in January. Norquist said he was tired of "escalating demands."

Arellano said the $275,000 offer was made in the course of the standard process of trying to settle a dispute out of court. He said Shindell encouraged the approach, even though she and Norquist later argued it essentially amounted to a shakedown.

In releasing the complaint on Friday, Shindell told reporters that it contained "unsubstantiated" information but said Norquist would not pursue legal action against Figueroa for making the claims. To many questions from reporters she responded, "The content of this document does not merit a response."

Although the complaint includes many sordid details about sexual incidents and encounters, including allegations that Norquist exposed himself to Figueroa several times, it also amounts to the first indication of how strong Figueroa's case against the city may or may not be.

The complaint cites two City Hall jobs for which Figueroa, who is Hispanic, says she expressed interest in but went instead, she says, to less-qualified white women. It does not, however, say that Figueroa, who acknowledges in the complaint she doesn't have a college degree, ever actually applied for the jobs.

The complaint says Figueroa had been promised last year that her job would be reclassified, which would have led to a salary increase. It does not say Norquist promised her the reclassification and corresponding pay raise, but alleges he blocked it.

The only other mention of a promise is that, during the five-year relationship, "Norquist promised that my job was secure and that I did not have to worry about my future."

The complaint adds some detail to the statement Figueroa issued Monday, after she filed the soon-to-be public document with the state. Norquist's pursuit, the complaint says, "was tiring and debilitating." Figueroa says she felt "cornered" by the demands on her job, the mayor's power, and his influence over decisions, such as the allocation of federal block grant money, that affected the Hispanic community.

"I always felt that my sexual encounters with the mayor made me feel as though I was being 'raped' because the encounter was totally against my will and desire," the complaint reads. "I had fallen so low and I was terrified to lose my job and the respect of my community. I was trapped and miserable."

The complaint says that by January of this year, two months after the last sexual encounter, the stress was so great Figueroa suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized. The complaint says that on Feb. 7, while on medical leave, she received a letter saying she had been terminated.

Officials in the mayor's office have said Figueroa voluntarily left her job Jan. 21. In his filing with the federal EEOC, Figueroa's attorney used Feb. 2 as her last day on the job.

Shindell, Norquist's attorney, has questioned why, if the City Hall work environment was so bad, Figueroa did not take advantage of opportunities given her to be promoted to higher-paying jobs within city government but outside the mayor's office.

Those offers, according to a statement issued this week by Bill Christofferson, a former chief of staff to Norquist, included three chances to be named head of the city's block grant office. Shindell has also said the meek image of Figueroa portrayed in the complaint does not match the perception of Figueroa as a self-confident and strong-willed activist in the community.

When Norquist first admitted the affair, he termed it a personal matter and said, "I will have no more to say about it." He continued to answer reporters' questions, at least in general terms, throughout the week. On Thursday, after a news conference on a different matter, Norquist told reporters, "I'm going to be outside, getting some fresh air, if anyone wants to ask me anything."

At Friday's news conference, Norquist said the complaint had its desired effect of punishment.

"It was intended to be painful, and it was intended to hurt - and it was painful and it did hurt," he said.

The state complaint is the second one Figueroa has filed against the city. It follows an October complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

"It is my obligation to protect the legal interests of the city of Milwaukee," City Attorney Grant Langley said in a written statement. "I will do so. We should all remember that at this time this complaint includes unproven accusations and is not under oath."

Although the federal complaint is confidential, the state-level complaint is a public document. Once it was filed Monday, the city asked the state to keep its contents confidential. The Department of Workforce Development refused to do so, but gave Norquist until Dec. 18 to go to court to try to block its release.

Norquist said Friday the public interest in the content of the complaint outweighed his privacy rights. "I believe to the extent people are exposed to the material they will see it for what it is - an attempt to gain financially from an error in judgment," he said.

Shindell likened its details to "a Harlequin novel" and said, "I do not know a reputable attorney who would sign this document."

She noted Arellano signed the last page under the words "approved as to form." However, on the bottom of a state form accompanying the complaint itself, Arellano signed below a statement saying he has read the complaint, believes its contents to be true and that it is "not being used for any improper purpose such as to harass the party against whom the complaint is filed."

That document lists no witnesses, saying they will be named later. It says Figueroa is seeking back pay, attorney fees and reinstatement "to a position where (the) harasser does not have contact with the complainant."

The complaint depicts Norquist as moving in on Figueroa with unwelcome attention sometime in 1995, shortly after Figueroa's divorce. Around the same time, the complaint says, Figueroa was "physically and sexually attacked" while jogging - the street crime her Monday statement mentioned but didn't explain.

Around that time, Figueroa states, she received flowers from Norquist, accompanied by comments such as "not even my wife gets flowers."

The complaint says, on multiple occasions, Norquist exposed himself to Figueroa. In one incident, Figueroa says she was asked to place an apple between her legs and take it to the mayor. The complaint also says Norquist engaged in "numerous" phone calls with sexual talk and touched Figueroa's breasts at work.

The complaint says she was summoned to the mayor's home in 1995, on the pretext of discussing city issues, and "coerced" into having sex. That was apparently the first sexual encounter between the two. Other such incidents, the complaint says, took place in the mayor's office, at Figueroa's home and twice in Chicago, after Norquist arranged for business trips and paid for Figueroa's hotel room and expenses.

In general, each incident alleged in the document appears to have occurred with no one else present, setting up a situation - common in sexual harassment cases - where, should it ever go to court, it could boil down to a he said-she said situation.

In theory, even if the incidents all took place, Norquist could argue they were part of the consensual relationship, while Figueroa could say they all were part of the ongoing harassment.

In fact, the only person besides Norquist specifically named in the complaint is Jones, who the complaint says was instructed one day to call Figueroa at home and ask where she was. Jones was a high-ranking officer at the time, not the chief.

The way the incident is described, though, does not easily match Jones' employment status. Figueroa includes the call from Jones in a section describing how, in 1999, she tried to break off the relationship by not answering Norquist's calls and other attempts at contact.

By 1999, though, Jones was police chief - not an officer. Jones was a member of the mayor's security staff, although that was between 1988 and 1991.

"Mayor Norquist never told me nor did Marilyn Figueroa ever tell me they were engaged in any sexual conduct," Jones said Friday night. "I was not aware of any sexual conduct."

Jones said that was all he wanted to say on that matter now.

Asked about the allegation that after Figueroa was the victim of a sexual assault Norquist ordered the police to "stop every black man in the area" where she was attacked, Jones noted the sexual assault reportedly occurred in 1994 or 1995 - before he was chief.

As a result, he said: "I need to look into it. I wasn't chief at the time. But I'm not aware of any such directive."

Arellano suggested there are many witnesses who would be called in a future lawsuit, or as the complaint is investigated by the state. The federal EEOC complaint was dismissed this week, and the agency rescinded a right-to-sue letter it had issued Arellano. Agency officials said it was not filed within the 180-day window for political appointees.

Arellano argues that the agency misapplied the rules and said Figueroa's position, though exempt from civil service rules, should not be considered a political appointee, as Shindell and others have noted Figueroa reported to the chief of staff, not Norquist.

He said Friday he had appealed the ruling of the EEOC's Milwaukee office to Washington, D.C. If the right-to-sue letter is restored, it would allow Arellano to pursue a broader range of claims in a federal lawsuit.

Figueroa also accuses Norquist of running a racist office, in which minority staffers are segregated from other employees. Figueroa says that when she refused to submit to Norquist's sexual demands, he threatened to cut or prevent block grant allocations she had recommended go to various minority groups.

Figueroa had been Norquist's representative on the city's block grant policy committee. The administration makes funding recommendations, but ultimately they have to be approved by the Common Council.

Many aldermen are in Boston this week at the Congress of Cities conference and could not be reached for comment Friday. Council President Marvin Pratt is in town and could not be reached.

One of those not traveling, Ald. James Bohl, called the complaint "disturbing" but emphasized he wanted to reserve judgment until the courts settled the dispute.

"There are two sides to every story," he said.

Jessica McBride, Annysa Johnson and Linda Spice of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Dec. 9, 2000.

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-- Lars (lars@indy.net), December 10, 2000

Answers

Lars, keep it up….we could use the comic relief and those stories from the ‘check-out line’ are just too damn funny. First a dog lover and then a sheep lover, now Norquist. The good mayor is in running with some fast company. More I say, more.

-- Barry (bchbear863@cs.com), December 10, 2000.