Chicago Firefighter Investigated Over Allegations of On-duty Phone Sex

Dec. 17--An Oak Lawn fireman who previously served as head of the firefighters union is being investigated for possible on-duty phone sex, officials revealed in court Thursday.

The investigation was revealed during an unusual hearing on a petition for an emergency restraining order filed by firefighter Robert Lanz against the village Tuesday.

In court documents, Oak Lawn officials said they "very recently obtained information that raises very strong concerns that (Lanz) may have engaged in phone sex while on duty on multiple occasions."

Oak Lawn officials then launched an investigation and ordered Lanz to produce his credit card and cell phone records "so that the village could determine whether there was on duty misconduct, and if so the scope and extent of that misconduct," court records show. They also scheduled an interrogation with him for Dec. 18.

"Nobody in the workplace should have to listen to their coworker's sexual conduct," said Benjamin Gehrt, Oak Lawn's attorney.

In court Thursday, Lanz' attorney Patrick Walsh argued that Lanz was given less than two weeks to schedule the interview date and that his union representation wouldn't be available by the deadline.

Walsh also argued that there was no case law to compel Lanz to turn over the credit card and phone records and that doing so would violate his right to privacy under the Illinois Constitution.

"Once they are out in the public, they are out," Walsh said.

Walsh asked the judge to grant the temporary restraining order so that the disciplinary interview could be conducted after Lanz gets the counsel of his choosing, who likely wouldn't be available until after the holidays.

Larson denied the temporary restraining order, saying that Lanz would not suffer irrevocable harm. However, she did strongly suggest delaying the disciplinary interview until Jan. 7 or 8. The rest of the issues would be handled by a union arbitrator, Larson said.

"We are still reviewing our options to challenge" the village's order to produce the cell phone and credit card records, Walsh said after the hearing.

Fire Chief George Sheets served Lanz with an interrogation order on Dec. 9 demanding "all credit card statements" and "cell phone statements" for any account "held or used" by him dating back to Jan. 1, 2012, court records show.

The investigation can be traced back to a summer audit of the firefighter union's expenses to see if they were misappropriated for personal use, court records show.

Earlier this year, the Cook County Sheriff's Office investigated whether Lanz misused union funds on personal expenses but decided not to press charges, Oak Lawn claims in its court filing.

The village then obtained a copy of the union audit report, according to court records.

Village Manager Larry Deetjen said in a sworn court statement that he reviewed the audit report and saw that "numerous unsupported charges were attributed to" Lanz.

Many of those charges "were for services provided by two businesses," Deetjen said, which he learned after an Internet search "provide phone sex services."

Deetjen said he cross-checked the dates of the charges against the village's records and found numerous occasions where Lanz "appeared to incur phone sex charges while he was on duty."

Oak Lawn has not taken action against Lanz for the "suspected misconduct," the village said. Instead, it is simply "doing its due diligence and investigating the scope" of Lanz' alleged misconduct.

Asked about the alleged misconduct, Lanz' attorney Patrick Walsh said the village only has "speculation."

"All they have are some records and they have no other information other than what they've interpreted records to mean," Walsh said.

Oak Lawn officials are "particularly sensitive" to preventing and fighting sexual harassment, the village said in its court filing, because Oak Lawn had to pay $850,000 in 2009 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit by a female firefighter who alleged that a male firefighter "ejaculated on her bed sheets."

gpratt@tribpub.com

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