A former lawyer for the Chicago Park District is suing Lori Lightfoot after the Chicago mayor chewed him out on Zoom, allegedly claiming to have the “biggest dick” in the Windy City.
George Smyrniotis, who worked for the park district as deputy general counsel before he stepped down last month, says in his lawsuit that the trouble began over a plan to include a controversial statue of Christopher Columbus during an annual parade organized by the city’s Italian American community.
The prominent statue, which stood near Lake Michigan downtown, was one of several Columbus statues around the city that Lightfoot had ordered removed in the wake of social-justice protests in the summer of 2020. After the mayor’s order, the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans sued the Park District.
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Smyrniotis alleges that he was then asked by the district’s chief lawyer and a city superintendent to collaborate with the Italian organization to find a solution and settle the suit “as soon as possible.”
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Smyrniotis and lawyers representing the Italian Americans came to a solution: the community would be allowed to include the statue of Columbus during their annual parade, but Columbus would have to ride last—and would be kept concealed until the very end.
But before the deal was finalized, Smyrniotis claims Lightfoot abruptly called him into a Zoom meeting.
“You dicks, what the fuck were you thinking,” the mayor began, according to Smyrniotis’ complaint. “You make some kind of secret agreement with Italians... You are out there measuring your dicks with the Italians seeing who's got the biggest dicks.”
“You are out there stroking your dicks over the Columbus statue,” she continued. “My dick is bigger than yours and the Italians, I have the biggest dick in Chicago.”
According to the complaint, the mayor was irate because Smyrniotis hadn’t run the deal past a city lawyer. She went on to attack the Park District lawyers’ credentials, he claimed.
“Where did you go to law school? Did you even go to law school? Do you even have a law license?” she allegedly asked.
Lightfoot allegedly then told the team to get that “fucking statue back before noon” and also threatened at some point to yank the Italian Americans’ parade permit.
The lawsuit claims Smyrniotis—who resigned from the Park District last month—was defamed by the aggressive, condescending comments.
A Law Department spokeswoman told the Chicago Tribune: “The city has not yet been served with a complaint and will have no further comment as the matter is now in litigation.”
