Cook County Court Clerk Dorothy Brown has pulled the plug on her “Jeans Day” cash flow operation.
A few months ago, when Brown was running for Cook County Board President, details were revealed about policy in her office that charged staff to wear jeans on Fridays. Employees paid a $2 to $3 fee to wear their denim.
“’Jeans Day’ felt like a slush fund; it felt like a shakedown,” said Andy Shaw, the Better Government Association Executive Director on Fox News. “There was no adequate record keeping.”
Brown claimed the money collected goes to charities and employee appreciation events.
“It seemed silly to charge employees for wearing the item of their choice,” said Shaw. “It was misguided from the beginning.”
When asked how much money was raised by charging employees to wear jeans, Brown and her staff indicated it was about $40,000, but according to the documentation they later provided it was well over $59,000.
Brown blames the media for the denim day demise.
