A Chicago housing official stunned a meeting by announcing that she was in dire need of sex.
Francine Washington told other members of the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) she needed to ‘get laid’.
A report by the Office of the Inspector General found that Washington had a ‘sexually graphic conversation’ in front of other agency workers.
Washington was not named in the report, but has since identified herself to the Chicago Tribune as the staffer concerned.
‘I tell on myself all the time,’ Washington told the outlet. ‘If I say something, I mean what I said, and I’m not going to say something and then deny it.’
The report does not narrate the incident, but says that allegations someone, ‘may have communicated inappropriately with multiple employees in public forums’ were received in January 2023.
Washington said she thinks she made the comment after getting frustrated with a CHA lawyer, who was complaining about a CHA union representative.
‘I said, ‘I need to go home and get laid. [The statement had] no sexual connotations against anyone and was not as bad as what she [the attorney] said,’ Washington told the Tribune. ‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’
She said she was ‘shocked’ by the attorney’s negativity towards the union representative and characterized her comments as coming from ‘white privilege’.
The report details how CHA’s Interim Board Chair Matthew Brewer met with the commissioner concerned and that they, ‘committed to the Chair that they would not engage in similar behavior in the future’.
Washington said she remembers Brewer approaching her after the incident, but does not recall details of the conversation.
She believes that she was reported by a human resources manager at CHA who was getting frustrated that Washington was asking a lot of questions of the agency.
‘All the board members know me,’ Washington said. ‘I don’t change with the weather. I love being a public housing resident and I love my residents and am not going to do anything to hurt the residents or the authority.’
Washington was appointed to the Chicago Housing Authority Board of Commissioners in June 2014.
She is also the President of the Central Advisory Council and Washington Park Local Advisory Committee and sits on many prestigious boards.
The report also found that CHA has no sexual harassment policy in place and recommended one is drafted.
Brewer agreed with the suggestions, but also pointed out that commissioners have attended annual ethics and sexual harassment training for the last few years.
‘The Chicago Housing Authority is committed to fostering a culture of respect and accountability to uphold ethical and professional standards for all stakeholders, including our Commissioners and staff members,’ the agency said in a statement to the Tribune.
It added that it is unable to comment on personnel issues but, ‘we take all allegations of misconduct seriously.’