An ex-employee of the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center has filed a lawsuit against the institution and its president and CEO, Perri Irmer, alleging misuse of public funds, harassment and retaliation.
The lawsuit is the latest in an ongoing whistleblower campaign by Kim Dulaney, a retired Chicago State University professor who joined the South Side museum in 2021 as director of education and programs. She later became the vice president of the same department.
Dulaney alleges in her suit, filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, that she was retaliated against after “questioning DuSable’s irregular fiscal practices.” Dulaney claims in the suit that she was excluded from meetings, harassed and ultimately terminated in October. The lawsuit brings the claims forward under the Illinois Whistleblower Act.
Dulaney also filed formal complaints after her termination with the Chicago Park District, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office, the Illinois attorney general’s office, the Chicago Office of the Inspector General and the office of 20th Ward Ald. Jeanette Taylor.
DuSable is a not-for-profit museum that receives funding from the city of Chicago and a park district tax levy. Other funders include the MacArthur Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services and private donors.
In her lawsuit, the bulk of Dulaney’s complaints stem from what she calls a “misuse of funds” and concerns about “budget transparency.”
She alleges...
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