Illinois

2 Women Who Lead #MeToo Movement in Illinois Reflect a Year Later

Denise Rotheimer was the first to allege harassment last October. Alaina Hampton spoke up too, filing a civil lawsuit as the #MeToo movement rocked the Illinois state capitol.

Hampton's lawsuit -- still pending -- alleges how her supervisor, Kevin Quinn, sexually harassed her. Quinn lost his political job, his brother, who Hampton asked for help, is Marty Quinn -- running for re-election as the 13th Ward alderman.

"With the Chicago teachers union or any organization, endorsing Ald. Quinn sends a really strong message to victims, that they're okay with what's happened to them and they're just going to move forward," Hampton said. "In Illinois I don't see much changing," she added.

State Sen. Ira Silverstein lost his re-election after Rotheimer went public with the more than 400 Facebook messages Silverstein sent to Rotheimer.

"We stop congratulating legislators first because they have not made improvements. We need to give accusers rights, we need to make it fair," she said. "Both parties are accountable, neither party has taken responsibility."

The fallout from me too in Illinois -- has had mixed results -- Speaker Mike Madigan's chief of staff Tim Mapes was fired and is now a lobbyist. State Rep. Nick Sauer resigned, State Rep. Lou Lang hopes to regain his leadership post.

"We have to keep fighting, it can't be one person, or two people, it has to be everybody," Hampton said.

Both Hampton and Rotheimer note the negativity they've faced: the victim shaming has brought difficult consequences yet they don't regret speaking up.

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