Collin County Judge Chris Hill says that commissioners had launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct in the county’s district attorney’s office before a lawsuit was filed Monday alleging harassment and retaliation. The claims were made against District Attorney Greg Willis and his top lieutenant, Bill Wirskye. Hill first commented about the matter in a letter to county employees on Wednesday.
Hill’s letter was provided to D by a county spokesperson. The lawsuit alleges that Willis repeatedly sexually harassed female employees and that Wirskye and Willis threatened retaliation if the employees reported those claims. The suit also accuses Wirskye of bullying employees and using sexist language in the workplace. Both have denied the allegations.
The suit also names Hill and county commissioners Susan Fletcher, Darrell Hale, Cheryl Williams, and Duncan Webb, and said the court knew “of this misconduct for years but have continued to enable it by refusing to take remedial action or even conduct a reasonable investigation.”
In Wednesday’s letter, Hill wrote that he could not comment on pending litigation but did say that commissioners first received anonymous letters alleging misconduct in Willis’ office in 2019. The letter says that the county’s human resources department conducted an investigation. Three employees filed formal allegations with the county in April 2022, and a new investigation began. Four months later, the commissioners court was notified that six employees had filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“The commissioners court promptly engaged an outside legal firm to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations,” Hill said. “This investigation included interviews with four of the six employees – all six were asked to participate, but two declined – as well as others in the District Attorney’s office.”
Hill said that the commissioners were set to hear the findings of the investigation at the court’s Nov. 14 meeting. The letter is below:
You may have seen news reports regarding a federal lawsuit filed this week by six current or former employees that contained allegations of sexual harassment in the District Attorney’s office. While the ongoing litigation prevents me from speaking to the media about the allegations, I wanted to address any concerns that you may have and inform you of the actions that the Commissioners Court and I have taken.
Collin County has no tolerance for sexual harassment. As you know, the county has a strong and clear policy prohibiting any form of harassment in the workplace, and we take all employee complaints very seriously. Such behavior will never be allowed. At the same time, we must take care to remember that allegations in a lawsuit are not the same as evidence in a courtroom.
The Commissioners Court first received anonymous letters alleging misconduct in the District Attorney’s office in 2019. These anonymous letters were forwarded to the Human Resources department, and an internal investigation was conducted.
In April 2022 – almost two and a half years after the first anonymous letters were received – three employees filed formal allegations with our Human Resources department, and a new internal investigation was initiated.
In August 2022, the Commissioners Court was notified that six employees had filed formal complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The Commissioners Court promptly engaged an outside legal firm to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations. This investigation included interviews with four of the six employees – all six were asked to participate, but two declined – as well as others in the District Attorney’s office. Before the federal lawsuit was filed, the Commissioners Court was already scheduled to hear the findings of this independent investigation at our upcoming executive session on November 14, 2022.
At all points in the process, the Commissioners Court – through our Human Resources team – has been actively engaged. Thank you for your patience as we allow the legal process to work fairly for everyone involved in this case.
Collin County Judge Chris Hill
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