Chris Hill, the county judge for Collin County, issued a statement through county spokesperson Tim Wyatt regarding the ongoing federal lawsuit against the county’s district attorney Monday, Oct. 31.

The lawsuit — which contained allegations of sexual harassment — also named Hill, First Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye and the four county commissioners as defendants.

“Collin County has no tolerance for sexual harassment,” Hill’s statement said, “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.”

According to the lawsuit filed in federal court on Oct. 31, county commissioners knew of the claims and did not act.

“The Collin County Commissioners, including County Judge Chris Hill have known of this misconduct for years but have continued to enable it by refusing to take remedial action or even conduct a reasonable investigation,” the lawsuit said. 

The statement from Hill said it was important to remember that the lawsuit references allegations, not evidence in a courtroom. 

According to Hill’s statement, the Collin County Commissioners Court first received anonymous complaint letters alleging sexual misconduct in 2019. The matter was forwarded to the human resources department, the statement said and an internal investigation was conducted.

Three employees in the district attorney’s office filed formal allegations in April 2022, the statement said, and six employees filed formal complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in August 2022.

Hill’s statement said the county hired an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation and four of the six employees were interviewed after two declined. The investigation also interviewed other employees in the district attorney’s office, the statement added.

“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 Nov. 14.” the statement said. “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.”