Fired from Chicago's aviation department, Marva Mack filed a federal lawsuit that's cost her her savings and has left her without an attorney to continue the fight.
Mack worked for the city for more than 20 years, was promoted, then lost her job reportedly for poor performance. She claims one of her bosses wanted her to falsify time sheets.
She and her husband left federal court Tuesday after one more hearing in her three year battle to fight City Hall.
“I’d like to clear my name, I want justice," Mack said. "Really I’m doing it because a lot of people through this administration was hurt so, I would like to have my back pay back."
That back pay would cover 67-year-old Mack’s $64,000 salary since she was fired in August 2015. She had been a timekeeper in the Chicago Department of Aviation. Stacks of documents show it’s been a complicated process. First the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission gave her permission to sue. She’s had two attorneys quit when she could no longer pay them. She owes one of them $36,000.
“It was terrible I had nightmares every night lost weight," Mack said.
Her husband, Chester Mack, is assisting her. Two counts of the lawsuit remain: whistle blower and age discrimination. The city contends Mack was insubordinate and lied to superiors and law enforcement.
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“From the Department of Human Resource, they sent her a letter and gave her a promotion, so if she’s inadequate at her job, how does she get a promotion during the same time they were writing her up," Chester Mack said.
Marva Mack was fired while she was on leave for a stress induced medical condition. She continues to maintain she was asked to alter time sheets and refused.
"I said no I don’t want any part of it," she said Tuesday.
Mack says she’s not the only aviation employee who has endured a hostile work environment.
“I didn’t do anything, so I’m not going to give up," she said.
Asked for comment on the suit, a spokesperson for the city of Chicago said they do not comment on pending litigation.
Meanwhile, Mack continues to search for a new attorney.
