An Illinois judge ruled on Thursday that the lawsuit against Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) alleging workplace retaliation will tentatively go to trial in the months before her November election.
Union County Judge David Boie rejected a call by the Illinois attorney general’s office, which represented Duckworth at the hearing, to dismiss the case, according to ABC News. The case set to go to trial in August.
{mosads}Duckworth is locked in a tight battle with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) in one of the most competitive Senate races of this cycle. President Obama won the Democratic-leaning state in both 2008 and 2012.
Kirk’s campaign has jumped on the hearing as a campaign issue and quickly responded to the judge’s ruling.
“There’s no doubt Duckworth’s record and sacrifice in the military should be respected and honored. But her record as [former Gov.] Rod Blagojevich’s Director of Veterans’ Affairs, however, was one plagued by mismanagement and scandal that endangered the care of Illinois veterans,” Kirk campaign manager Kevin Artl said in a statement.
“Now, as Duckworth prepares for her court case on charges that she silenced whistleblowers, Illinois voters have a clear choice between independent Mark Kirk and trial-bound Tammy Duckworth.”
In 2009, two former employees working under Duckworth when she led the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs filed a lawsuit against her. One employee alleged that she was fired after filing complaints against her boss, but her termination was later reversed after meeting with Duckworth.
The other employee claims she received a bad performance review and no raise after complaining about the same boss. She claims Duckworth told her to “do your job and keep your mouth shut” to keep her job.
Duckworth has previously denied that the employees were treated unfairly, and her campaign spokesman, Matt McGrath, has called Kirk campaign’s digital ads regarding the hearing “another dishonest attack from a desperate campaign.”
Kirk’s campaign has also knocked the congresswoman for attending a fundraiser with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in Washington, D.C., Thursday morning instead of appearing at the hearing.
In a statement, Duckworth’s campaign spokesmanMatt McGrath said, “We’re looking forward to this politically-motivated case reaching its conclusion after seven years and multiple delays, and when it’s over Mark Kirk will still be a Trump-supporting Republican who lied about his military record at least 10 times while Tammy Duckworth is a 23-year Veteran of the National Guard who was wounded in combat and has made serving veterans her life’s work — with tangible accomplishments.”