HWH files lawsuit against Harvey library over financial records

The HWH has filed a lawsuit against the Harvey Public Library District after board president and public records clerk Anthony McCaskill denied the newsroom’s request for bills list.

In the suit, filed Nov. 6, we are seeking that the courts declare that the district violated the state’s public records law and order the library district to produce the appropriate records. Read the full complaint here.

The HWH is represented by Loevy & Loevy.

In February, the HWH submitted a records request to the district for copies of invoices and timesheets by paid library consultant and McCaskill’s wife Cook County Commissioner Kisha McCaskill (5th) between December 2024 and February 2025, in addition to bills lists generated between October 2023 and February 2025 — a critical way to examine government spending habits.

McCaskill failed to respond within five business days, as required by the state’s public records laws, nor did he request an extension to process the request, as allowed under state law. The HWH reported the issue to the Illinois State Attorney General Public Access Counselor.

“​​Please note the FOIA requestors email is going to spam,” McCaskill alleged in his response to the PAC. He then provided his wife’s invoices as requested and indicated consultants were not required to submit timesheets.

However, McCaskill partly denied the release of financial records, claiming “the request is partially unduly burdensome because the HPLD has submitted bills list in prior FOIA response.” He then provided a bills list for December 2024 through February 2025. 

The state’s public records law allows public bodies to claim several exemptions to prevent the release of information, including the “unduly burdensome” clause, meaning the request would burden the public body, there is no way to narrow the request’s scope, or it would interfere with regular operations. A public body, however, loses their right to claim that exemption if they do not respond within five business days. 

The exception to that matter is if the requester has submitted “voluminous” or recurring requests, according to the law. A recurring requester is any person who submits a request within 12-months and has submitted:

• At least 50 requests total;
• At least 15 requests within the past 30 days; or
• Seven requests within a week.

The law explicitly states that news media is not subject to that calculation, considering the purpose is to disseminate information to the broader public, and the HWH did not previously request these bills lists from the HPLD.

Pattern of non-compliance

The HWH has reported the library district to the PAC a total of three times within the past year.

In July 2024, the library district was reported for failing to respond to requests for a meeting packet, Kisha McCaskill’s contractual information, termination letters of staff, materials related to an investigation of former director Xavier Menzies, and technology-related audits.

The HWH sent multiple emails to McCaskill and trustees warning of non-compliance and potential litigation. In his response to the PAC, McCaskill claimed the documents were mailed. The HWH did not receive any documents sent to the address listed in the request. The PAC advised McCaskill to submit documents through email, which were received by the newsroom.

Some documents were not provided, however. In his response, McCaskill indicated that a former library employee stole all personnel files, preventing the release of termination letters.

In November 2024, the library district was reported for failing to respond to requests for Kisha McCaskill’s invoices and internal reports sent to the Illinois Secretary of State, responsible for local library oversight statewide. Attorneys for the library requested an extension, but still failed to process the request by the new agreed upon deadline. The records were later provided after the PAC intervened.

McCaskill has openly expressed antagonism toward the HWH. In an effort to intimidate our newsroom, he read aloud an alleged cease-and-desist letter last summer, threatening to pursue litigation if we continued using his name, brand, or likeness in coverage. He never formally served our newsroom.