J. B. Pritzker, the billionaire heir of the Pritzker fortune who is likely to be anointed Illinois’s next governor, received an unhappy surprise yesterday. He’s being sued for racial discrimination. From the ABC 7 Chicago:
CHICAGO (WLS) — In the race for governor, J.B. Pritzker’s campaign is being sued by 10 staff members for racial discrimination and harassment.
They claim they were hired to fill a race quota and to do specific race-related duties. They also say white staff members were treated better.
Pritzker denied the allegations at a campaign event in Joliet.
“I know that the African-American community knows who I am, knows that I will fight for them when I’m governor,” he said.
I have no idea what the merits of this are if any. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a hustle but I can’t really tell.
Sadly, I suspect this is just a speedbump in Pritzker’s road to the governor’s mansion. It may reduce turnout among black voters a bit but I doubt it will have enough effect to change the outcome.
Knowing IL, I can’t imagine it will slow him p.
I would not be surprised if Pritzker wins with a plurality of the vote and quickly emerges as the next governor with the lowest approval ratings in the country.
Part of the background to this story was that Pritzker was recorded by the FBI counseling Blagojevitch on selecting a replacement to Obama’s Senate seat, with seemingly disparaging remarks about the black political class. The black political class has pardoned the infraction, but Pritzker needed to reach out to the black community to ensure turnout to avoid the impression that he doesn’t see blacks as meaningful participants in the Democratic voting block.
My bet would be that both Pritzker and the people suing him are crooked. That would seem to be the Illinois norm.
Steve