Five people, Including Mayor Ryan Sorenson, Named in a Lawsuit filed by Former Sheboygan Director of Planning and Development, Chad Pelishek.

The lawsuit was filed on August 7, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Pelishek resigned in May, 2023, after a 16-year career with the City of Sheboygan, citing severe negative impacts on himself and his family.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued Pelishek a Notice of the Right to Sue for his discrimination charge on June 15, 2023.

The defendants in the lawsuit include Sorenson, Common Council members Barbara Felde, Roberta Filicky-Peneski, and Amanda Salazar, as well as Emily Rendall-Araujo, the Director of Uptown Social.

The claim submitted by Pelishek’s attorney, Jennifer DeMaster, alleges that Pelishek faced abusive and hostile conditions in his job, driven by the DEI collective. They labeled him a racist for expressing concerns about racism and demanded his termination while fabricating a false narrative about him.

The lawsuit claims that Pelishek witnessed Todd Wolf being accused of harassment and misconduct, leading to his termination without cause by the City of Sheboygan. When Pelishek tried to present evidence disproving these allegations against Wolf, he and his family were harassed and threatened by City officials.

The events with Wolf and Pelishek stemmed from an incident at a Sheboygan Neighborhood Association meeting, where an unidentified person made a racial slur. Pelishek sought assistance from Mayor Sorenson to address racial issues in neighborhood meetings, but the mayor ignored his requests.

During a meeting on August 22, 2022, Pelishek asked for help in addressing racism, and Emily Rendall-Araujo told him to quote the racist comment made by the unidentified person in the neighborhood meeting. Pelishek then provided a quote of the comment made by the unidentified male that included a racial slur.

The lawsuit also covers a lunch meeting on October 5, 2022, where Wolf, Pelishek, and another City employee met with members of the DEI group. The DEI members asked for $70,000 for consulting work, and when Wolf refused, they threatened to oppose him.

On October 10, 2022, the Sheboygan Press published an article titled “Sheboygan Leader Uses Racist Slur in Meeting” with a picture of Pelishek.

The lawsuit alleges that Rendall-Araujo met with a Sheboygan Press reporter and influenced the publication of additional articles suggesting Pelishek was racist and that Wolf failed to address racism.

These events led to an investigation of Wolf and eventual termination without cause. Following Wolf’s termination, Pelishek was told by City Attorney Chuck Adams to report directly to Mayor Sorenson. When Pelishek asked if he could have a private lawyer for himself during an investigation, Sorenson denied the request, stating that Adams was his lawyer for all matters related to the City and the investigation.

Due to fear without being allowed an attorney, Pelishek recorded his interview with Attorney Hall when he was questioned regarding the Todd Wolf investigation. The suit states that after being pressed by Hall to share his concerns, Pelishek told Hall about concerns regarding troubling financial matters with Progressive/DEI connected individuals and the City that he was aware of, that those issues were under an external audit, that Rendall-Araujo told him to tell her exactly what racist statement was made, and that he believes Rendall-Araujo asking him to repeat it was a “set up” and “plotted attack”. Pelishek also informed Hall that the DEI group members threatened Todd Wolf at the October 5 meeting after Wolf denied them money from the City. The suit states that Hall asked Pelishek, “Do you recall DEI leaders saying that if Todd didn’t pay them that they would publicly oppose him?” Pelishek responded, “Yes, that was said.”

After the interview, there was a series of events that impacted Pelishek’s wife and children. Pelishek asked to have the record cleared about the meeting where the slur occurred and was denied. At one point Pelishek discussed events with Human Resources Director Adam Westbrook and said it felt like the Common Council was going to allow the false narratives and hostility to continue. He was told that he responded to Rendall-Araujo as a “white man of privilege”. Westbrook told Pelishek, “You are not being discriminated against” and that Pelishek had no “protected status.”

Mayor Sorenson then outsourced some of Pelishek’s job duties and refused to re-appoint him to the Harbor Centre Business Improvement District Board where Pelishek had served for roughly eight years. There were also several “public records” relating to “disciplinary” matters regarding the meeting where the racial slur was mentioned. Pelishek also reported to Filickyi-Peneski that he was being harassed, that he was set up, and that he was being targeted by Rendall-Araujo, Sorenson and Salazar. Filicky-Peneski stated that there was nothing the Common Council could do about this.

The suit details the investigation report from Attorney Hall regarding Todd Wolf. This report stated that Pelishek confirmed he made an unsolicited racial slur, that Todd Wolf told the media about the slur and the public violating Common Council orders, and that Pelishek said there was no threat at the lunch with the DEI group. The suit states that all those statements were factually untrue based on Pelishek’s interview with Hall.

The suit brings claims of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which portents employees from discrimination on the basis of their sex, sexual orientation, race and/or religion. The suit claims a hostile and abusive work environment and disparate treatment. The suit also claims a violation of Fourteenth Amendment rights to equal protection of the law. This prohibits the government from denying employees equal protection for the law based on their race, gender, or protected expressions.

The suit also claims that Pelishek’s first amendment rights under retaliation and prior restraint were violated.

The suit requests relief in declaratory judgements, injunctions, enjoining and permanently restraining the City of Sheboygan from continuing and practicing violations, compensatory damages and punitive damages.

There are no future dates scheduled at this time regarding this suit.

It is important to note that all information presented is based on allegations made in the lawsuit filed by Chad Pelishek. That case is currently before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and the court will determine its outcome.

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