County Judge: Just Because She Isn't Paranoid Doesn't Mean Someone's Not Out To Get Her

By Caroline O'Donovan in News on Nov 4, 2012 9:00PM

Cook County Judge Susan McDunn says her workplace has been hostile since she began the job over twenty years ago. McDunn also says that secret lawsuits have been filed against her, potentially involving former Mayor Richard Daley, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, and the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Federal judge James R. Holderman says McDunn is definitely wrong about those cases. According to the Sun-Times, he’s told McDunn that himself at least eight times.

(Ed. Note: We included below an official statement from the Circiut Court of Cook County regarding McDunn.—CS)

But maybe she’s not wrong about the workplace environment.

McDunn is not the first county judge to be put on medical leave for mental health issues. Cynthia Brim was suspended after shoving a sheriff’s deputy during a scuffle at the Daley Center and a bizarre outburst in court in Markham. This is the self-same Daley Center that McDunn described as “a toxic, hostile work environment that I needed to get away from,”

Brim is now on medication, according to a court psychiatrist, and is mentally fit. She is still collecting a salary but is indefinitely suspended. McDunn has been on medical leave for months, although she claims she is fully healthy and not paranoid. The court requires McDunn to present a letter from a doctor to continue her medical leave.

McDunn requested that her filings regarding her suspicions would be kept private, but that request was denied. According to a lawyer IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, mental illness is not more prevalent amount Cook County judges than among any other section of society.

Statement by the OCJ on Judge McDunn (1)