According to testimony from a forensic expert, thousands of web searches for pornography were discovered on four computers used by the Country Club Hills Fire Department.

Andrew Garrett, who conducted the computer imaging on January 26 on behalf of Dena Lewis-Bystrzycki—a female firefighter involved in a lawsuit against the department—testified last month that the devices contained extensive pornographic content.

“There are thousands of web searches for pornography. It’s all over the place,” Garrett said during his February 8 testimony, as reported in court transcripts. “It looks like they wiped the hard drives and reloaded them, and I gave [Dana Kurtz, Lewis-Bystrzycki’s attorney] three dates when this was completed.”

“The issue was that once the computers were connected back to the network, the servers pushed down user profiles that included the previous web history, including the search for pornography.”

Lewis-Bystrzycki, who has been with the department since 1998, claims she faced sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, gender discrimination during a promotion, retaliation for reporting misconduct, and regular exposure to pornography at the fire station.

On August 31, 2016, a judge ruled that a search of the department's computers wasn't a fishing expedition and approved a forensic examination. However, the process was delayed for nearly five months until Judge Lynn Egan sanctioned the city for non-compliance. The city was ordered to cover the costs of the forensic work as part of the penalty.

After a watchdog website published details about the sanctions, but before the forensic results were made public, the city's lawyers filed an emergency motion seeking a gag order to prevent information from leaking to the media.

The city argued that the order was necessary to protect its right to a fair trial, citing potential attempts by the plaintiff to influence the jury pool. They referenced a 2015 FOX 32 report and a recent blog post as justification for their request.

Country Club Hills and its legal team did not respond to requests for comment on the gag order or on allegations that the city had destroyed evidence and violated a court order, as well as claims that firefighters regularly watched pornography.

The city also asked the court to review and filter any data found on the computers before sharing it with the plaintiff, fearing it could be used to tarnish the department's reputation.

In response, attorney Dana Kurtz denied the city’s claims, stating they lacked factual basis and that the media was simply reporting on publicly available court documents. She urged the court to focus on the city’s conduct rather than past issues involving her.

Kurtz pointed out that the city had already faced a default judgment, incurred legal fees for not responding to the complaint, and had multiple motions to compel and sanctions granted against them.

She also accused the city of intentionally destroying evidence and committing spoliation. Despite these serious allegations, local attorney Dan Kirschner said he didn’t expect any official investigation to take place.

Kirschner, a partner at Corboy & Demetrio, said the appropriate course of action would be to bring the issue to the court and seek sanctions, which could include jury instructions, striking pleadings, or entering a default judgment.

In her February 15 response to the city’s motion, Kurtz indicated she planned to file spoliation and contempt motions once Garrett finalized his report and shared it with her.

A hearing on the city’s protective order request is scheduled for late next month.

Thanks Dan

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