SALINE CO.—The Anna Bixby Women’s Center drama enters its third month of news coverage with a filing by a former employee who is complaining of Retaliatory Discharge.
Tina Pritchett (no relation to former employee/now-convict Amanda Pritchett) has filed the suit against not only the women’s center, but against former director Barbara Wingo of Golconda and against Terrie Eichorn, of Elizabethtown, Wingo’s daughter and co-director of the center.
The ABWC is under fire from a multi-count case in Saline County wherein Wingo and Eichorn are accused of money laundering and otherwise taking advantage of taxpayers’ and charitable dollars flowing through the place, located in Harrisburg, over the past several years.
Many say that if investigators and prosecutors could legally go back further than what they already have (the statutory three years), they might find such alleged activity dating to almost the inception of the agency, which came about in 1979.
As it is, when the ABWC directors were indicted in March, there were a lot of harsh words slung about by Wingo and Eichorn if staff is to be believed, and a lot of threats of retaliatory action as well.
It appears that those allegations had merit, if Pritchett’s case is any indication.
Began working in 2010
Pritchett claims in her May 20 court filing that she began her employment with the center in March 2010 in a Data Entry position. It was, she indicated in court paperwork, a grant-funded position through the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS).
On July 28, 2014, she states she ran a quarterly report in accordance with the grant awarded by IDHS, as she was required to do to determine the number of hours ABWC employees attend to and provide service to clients.
IDHS, she explained in the court paperwork, has benchmarks that determine the amount of grant monies a facility receives which is dependent, in whole or in part, on the number of hours clients are served by the facility.
Wingo, Tina Pritchett said, asked Amanda Pritchett, ABWC’s bookkeeper, to review Tina Pritchett’s report.
Wingo then was alleged to have said that the “number of client service hours from the report Tina Pritchett ran were not high enough for Anna Bixby to keep the same level of grant money it had received from IDHS the prior year.”
And Tina Pritchett then stated that Amanda Pritchett told her “Anna Bixby needs to increase the number of client service hours by 500 hours.”
Amanda Pritchett does it herself
In light of this, Tina Pritchett alleges in her suit, Amanda Pritchett told her to “randomly select client names from her rolodex and falsify service hours to enter against those client names.”
Tina advised that she would not falsify any records; whereupon Amanda went to Tina’s office and selected client names from Tina’s rolodex herself.
She then left a note for Tina, along with a stack of client contact forms, and instructed Tina to fabricate notes to support the fraudulent client contact time.
Tina said she refused to falsify the records and indicated that she wanted to speak to Wingo about Amanda’s instructions.
Then that same day (July 28, 2014), Amanda rejected the original quarterly report that Tina had run for IDHS.
Amanda told IDHS that “Anna Bixby would have to rerun the report because Tina Pritchett had failed to enter all of the client service hours for that quarter.”
Outlines termination
Tina Pritchett said in her paperwork that she took a sick day the next day (July 29, 2014).
On July 30, when she reported to work, she claims she was stopped on the sidewalk in front of the ABWC building by co-worker Diane Taborn, who told Pritchett that Wingo wanted Pritchett’s keys to the building and that Pritchett was not allowed to work until she spoke with Wingo.
“Although Pritchett was not formally told she was terminated,” the court documents read, “she had witnessed this procedure before and knew she had been terminated.”
Pritchett said she immediately attempted to call Wingo three or four times with Taborn and another employee, Nancy Mosby, present, but Wingo didn’t answer any of Pritchett’s calls.
Instead, she was allowed into the building and escorted by Taborn and Mosby to gather her personal belongings. While doing so, Pritchett tried to call Wingo again, but this time Pritchett blocked her number so that Wingo couldn’t tell that it was Pritchett calling her.
When Wingo answered, she told Pritchett she was coming to the building and would talk to her when she arrived, but by the time Pritchett had gathered her belongings, Wingo still hadn’t gotten there. And because Pritchett had been terminated, she was told she couldn’t remain on the property any longer to wait for Wingo.
Pritchett contacted Wingo again on July 31 by phone and text, then against on August 8 via text, and against on Aug. 13 via text, all in an effort to learn why she had been terminated, but Wingo didn’t respond.
Pritchett then points out in her court filing the Mach 30, 2015 indictments on multiple counts including financial crimes enterprise, financial institution fraud, wire fraud, loan fraud and personal use of charitable assets.
“The Illinois Attorney General’s Office alleges that Wingo and Eichorn ordered employees to falsify documents showing Anna Bixby was providing domestic violence counseling in order to receive state and federal grant funding,” Pritchett’s court filing points out.
Claims retaliatory action
And so as a result of this, Pritchett claims that she was terminated for her refusal to falsify and create fraudulent records to reflect either fictitious clients and/or inflated client contact hours.
She called the termination “retaliatory” (taking action against someone for their perceived actions or inactions) on that basis.
“As a direct result of her termination on July 30, 2014, Pritchett lost wages and benefits,” Pritchett’s court filing reads.
So she’s asking that a judge find ABWC’s, Wingo’s and Eichorn’s actions culpable under Counts of Retaliatory Discharge and Unlawful Retaliation by Defendant in Violation of the Illinois Whistleblower Act.
She’s seeking a judgment against them all, as well as back pay with interest; reinstatement with the same seniority status that she would’ve had but for the violation, or front pay; compensation for any damages as determined by a jury at trial; and all costs including litigation, expert witness fees, and reasonable attorneys’ fees.
No rush through court
A summons to all parties had been issued in the complaint as of press time, with no other court date set.
Wingo and Eichorn both were not set for any action in their criminal cases until July 31.
Both are facing another civil action in Saline County Circuit Court, wherein the Attorney General’s office is seeking recompense for the funds they are alleged to have abused according to the criminal complaint.
Thus far, no other indictments in the Anna Bixby debacle have been handed down, although sources have told Disclosure that that’s coming.