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Collin County judge Chris Hill alleges lawsuit against DA had ‘numerous inconsistencies’

Collin County DA Greg Willis denies the sexual harassment allegations against him.
Caroline Love
Collin County DA Greg Willis (at the podium) denied the sexual harassment allegations against him at a press conference in November.

Collin County Judge Chris Hill says the original lawsuit accusing DA Greg Willis of sexual harassment contained “numerous inconsistencies” and “false statements.”

The lawsuit was settled Monday for $1.75 million.

KERA reached out to attorneys for the six current and former employees of the DA’s office who were the plaintiffs in the lawsuit after Hill commented on the settlement in an email on Tuesday. They had not responded prior to publication of this story.

The original petition, filed Oct. 31 in federal court was 75 pages long. It alleged that Willis treated "many female employees as objects that, without their consent, must gratify his sexual impulses and personal vanity." It also accused his first assistant, Bill Wirskye, of running the office “as a crass, misogynistic fraternity complete with systemic hazing of the County’s attorneys, investigators and staff."

A 5-page amended petition submitted last week by attorneys representing six current and former employees of the DA’s office, alleged employee retaliation and did not mention sexual harassment. A settlement was reached on Monday. As part of the settlement, plaintiffs still working for the county will resign.

Hill said the commissioners agreed to the settlement after the plaintiffs amended their suit to retract allegations of sexual harassment and claims against Willis, Wirskye and the commissioners court. Both sides agreed not to pursue claims against each other.

Hill said Tuesday that county commissioners hired an independent legal firm to investigate the original claims. He said the firm found inaccuracies and false statements in the allegations after interviewing more than 30 former and current employees in the DA’s office.

“Multiple employees directly disputed many of the allegations contained in the lawsuit,” Hill said.

Rogge Dunn is Willis’ attorney. He said Willis had the support of “numerous female employees” in his office.

“Given the compelling evidence in his favor, I was always confident DA Willis would be exonerated and expected the sexual harassment claims would be withdrawn or dismissed,” Dunn said.

Hill said 11 women working in the DA’s office as chief prosecutors released a statement supporting Willis and Wirskye.

Willis said that the case was settled because the insurance company decided it was cheaper to do so instead of paying more legal fees. Hill said the insurance company opted to settle even though the Commissioners Court objected.

The $1.75 million settlement will be split six ways between the plaintiffs. The three plaintiffs who still worked for the county were also asked to resign from their jobs as part of the settlement.

Jeffrey Simon, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, said it took courage for the plaintiffs to speak up. He sent an email to KERA before Hill released his statement Tuesday.

“These individuals care very deeply for each other’s well-being,” Simon said. “That support gave them the courage to stand up for themselves, their rights, and those of their colleagues.”

Hill and the county commissioners also were named as defendants in the lawsuit. The original petition claimed they knew about the misconduct in the DA's office for years but refused to take action or investigate. The original petition referenced anonymous letters sent to the DA’s office, the county’s human resources department and the county commissioners court in recent years.

Hill said Tuesday that the original petition “falsely claimed that he and the commissioners knew about the complaints.

Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.

Caroline Love is a Report For Americacorps member for KERA News.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gifttoday. Thank you.

Caroline Love covers Collin County for KERA and is a member of the Report for America corps. Previously, Caroline covered daily news at Houston Public Media. She has a master's degree from Northwestern University with an emphasis on investigative social justice journalism. During grad school, she reported three feature stories for KERA. She also has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Texas Christian University and interned with KERA's Think in 2019.