We're shocked - shocked, we tell you - to learn this morning that outgoing Cook County President Todd Stroger has been accused of hiring shenanigans. A motion in an ongoing lawsuit brought by attorney Michael Shakman alleges Stroger has violated a political hiring ban 157 times. According to the Sun-Times: more ›

Following on the heels of a sexual harassment scandal that bubbled up into the news last month, Mayor Daley has transferred control over city hiring to Chicago's Inspector General. Daley is also proposing that the IG have the power to investigate corruption in the city council. Citing the federal corruption investigation into 29th Ward Ald. Issac Carothers, Daley said that “I think after the Carothers issue, some people are losing confidence in government.” more ›

Mark Meaney, first deputy to Anthony Boswell in Mayor Daley's Office of Compliance, resigned his $146,940-a-year position yesterday. The city inspector general recommended to Mayor Daley in a report last month that both be suspended for their handling of a 2008 complaint of sexual in the city's 911 center. The IG's investigation stems from an incident in which a student intern alleged that a high-ranking 911 center deputy made inappropriate comments about her appearance, repeatedly asked her out on dates and remarked that he'd like to have a cheerleader for an intern someday. The city's sexual harassment officer (who works for Boswell and Meaney) tried to investigate the claim, but ran into resistance, according to the IG's report. The two compliance chiefs supposedly tried to get the 911 official a new student intern, as well as trying to move him to a different city job, away from the 911 center. more ›

After a report by the city's inspector general, Mayor Daley is mulling suspensions of his top compliance officers. Inspector General Joseph Ferguson recommended to the mayor that he suspend Anthony Boswell and Mark Meaney, Daley's chief compliance officer and his first deputy, respectively. The case stems from a 2008 incident in which a student intern alleged that a high-ranking 911 center deputy made inappropriate comments about her appearance, repeatedly asked her out on dates and remarked that he'd like to have a cheerleader for an intern someday. The city's sexual harassment officer (who works for Boswell and Meaney) tried to investigate the claim, but ran into resistance, according to the IG's report. The two compliance chiefs supposedly tried to get the 911 official a new student intern, as well as trying to move him to a different city job, away from the 911 center. The Sun-Times is reporting that the official in question was stripped of his responsibilities in 2008 after he gave investigators information relating to an investigation into $2.25 million of contracting irregularities. more ›

Mayor Daley's Environment Commissioner Suzanne Malec-Mckenna told the press yesterday that she would accept a one-day suspension for alleged hiring abuses related to a contractor in her department. The city inspector general recommended the suspension, as well as the firing of one of her deputies, who is accused of lying to investigators about the matter. “If that’s the recommendation, I’ll take the recommendation,” Malec-McKenna said Monday. more ›

That Noelle Brennan. It's like she thought of everything! more ›

Just months after the city's Human Resources Commissioner, Jacqueline King, resigned her position following a scathing report by federal hiring monitor Noelle Brennan, Chicago has awarded over $150 million worth of consulting contracts for "examination, administration and security" of employee selection tests, "executive talent identification and recruiting" and operation of "assessment centers" to a group of contractors. more ›

U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen, who has been overseeing the City of Chicago's compliance with hiring, awarded $3.6 million in fees to the lawyers who have been working on the matter for over a decade. Calling their work exemplary, Anderson pointed out that “without the expertise and efforts of plaintiff’s counsel, the plaintiffs likely would not have achieved any recovery,” according to the Tribune. more ›