Chicago, IL – A Northwest Side alderperson reported a Streets and Sanitation official in her ward after he was caught on voicemail calling a rabbi an antisemitic slur, leading to the employee leaving his longtime city job.
Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th) reported her ward superintendent, Andrew Szorc, to the city’s Department of Human Resources after she was made aware of the voicemail in September, she said.
The incident was investigated by the city’s Office of the Inspector General, which recommended the Department of Streets and Sanitation fire Szorc and place him on the city’s do-not-hire list, according to the office’s quarterly report, which was released last month. Street and Sanitation officials agreed. Szorc retired before he could be fired.
Szorc could not be reached for comment.
Natalie Kuriata, a spokesperson for the Inspector General, confirmed the office received a complaint from Nugent about the incident.
“I had a responsibility to report it, which I did,” Nugent told Block Club. “The community was obviously very upset about this and wanted it investigated … and they were also very supportive of the process of the investigation. And so we all remained quiet so that the inspector general could do [its] job.”
Although the quarterly report does not mention Szorc by name or say when the incident occurred, a summary report of the case obtained by Northwest Side political watchdog People’s Fabric states the incident happened Aug. 31 and was reported to the office Sept. 14.
Szorc had been trying to get ahold of a rabbi at a local school to discuss trash and overgrown weeds on campus, according to the report. After leaving a message, Szorc did not hang up and the voicemail continued recording. He was heard saying to another person, “Yeah, yeah, I left two messages for [unintelligible]. He didn’t call me back. Fucking Jew,” according to the report.
The rabbi who received the voicemail forwarded it to another rabbi, and they brought it to the attention of the alderperson, according to the report and Nugent. The alderperson declined to say who the rabbis are.
When officials with the Office of the Inspector General interviewed Szorc, he admitted it was him on the voicemail and told investigators “a stroke has affected his speech, so he ‘maybe wasn’t saying it right,’” according to the report. He said he meant to say “fucking Jewish school” due to his frustration with trying to get the school cleaned for two weeks with no response, according to the summary report.
The Inspector General determined Szorc’s statement violated city rules prohibiting discrimination, especially as a representative of the city and while on the clock, according to the report.
Documents show the Inspector General’s office completed its investigation and delivered its recommendations Dec. 21 to Streets and Sanitation. Szorc took a leave of absence from Dec. 20, the day before the report was finalized, to when he retired in February, according to his city employment history obtained by People’s Fabric and shared with Block Club.
Szorc stepped down from his role Feb. 23, department spokesperson Mimi Simon said. He’s since been placed on the city’s do-not-hire list, she said.
It’s not clear why there was a three-month delay between the report and the discipline. Streets and Sanitation officials declined to comment, citing personnel matters.
