Ex park district leader Steve Wilson files defamation lawsuit

The recently resigned Wilmette Park District leader is suing the parties who are suing him, according to a complaint filed Jan. 21 with the Cook County Circuit Court.

Steve Wilson, who left the district at the end of January, is alleging that attorney Thomas Skallas and community members Kevin Cox and Lora Dubin engaged in a “coordinated campaign of defamation” against Wilson in 2024.

Representing Cox, Skallas sued Wilson for allegedly retaliating against Cox’s wife, Liz Cox, the former park district superintendent of human resources, for investigating a relationship between Wilson and a subordinate. Wilson’s suit claims that Skallas, Cox and Dubin all circulated false statements that Wilson got rid of Liz Cox “to protect a purported sexual relationship with a subordinate employee.”

Liz Cox resigned from the park district in the spring of 2023 and, fighting cancer, she died in December 2023. On her behalf, Kevin Cox filed a lawsuit against the park district in 2024 claiming that Wilson’s and the district’s “abusive” treatment of Liz Cox prior to and following her departure from the park district contributed to her death.

Dubin is a former park district employee who spoke out in defense of her friend Liz Cox on social media, during public meetings and to media outlets, including The Record.

Wilson’s lawsuit seeks at least $50,000. It is scheduled to be in front of a judge on March 26 at the Richard J. Daley Center in Chicago.

Kevin Cox and Skallas declined to comment on the lawsuit. Wilson’s attorneys, Paul Vickrey and Dylan Brown, did not respond to a message from The Record.

Lawsuit details

The centerpiece of Wilson’s lawsuit is that the defendants circulated allegedly false claims that he retaliated against Liz Cox because she was investigating Wilson’s sexual relationship with a subordinate.

The suit also alleges that Kevin Cox’s statement that “many other former employees” left the park district because of Wilson’s conduct is untrue.

As purported evidence of a “coordinated campaign of defamation,” Wilson’s suit cites a letter that Skallas sent to Wilmette Park District officials on Feb. 26, 2024, in which Skallas writes that Wilson forced Liz Cox to depart the park district because he viewed her and her knowledge of Wilson’s “longtime sexual relationship” with another park district employee “as a threat.” Skallas, in the letter, implies that on behalf of Cox he would pursue a wrongful death claim and suggested a “resolution” payment of $5 million.

The suit also claims Skallas’, Cox’s and Dubin’s reported communications with media outlets The Record, Chicago Tribune and Patch — all of which published information related to Cox’s lawsuit against Wilson within the past year — are further evidence of a campaign of defamation.

The lawsuit alleges that Skallas, Cox and Dubin all acted with “actual malice” — a legal standard for complaints from public figures — when they made and distributed their statements to various sources.

Related happenings

As The Record reported in June 2024, the Wilmette Park District hired an outside attorney in the fall of 2023 to investigate Wilson, at least partly because of the claims made by Liz Cox.

Sources told The Record that as a result of the investigation Wilson was placed on a “performance improvement plan.”

The Record also reported that there was a significant exodus of management-level personnel — at least nine supervisors — from the park district’s employ between 2023-2024.

Wilson announced his resignation in early January and officially left the park district on Jan. 31. Wilson’s contract was expiring, and Park Board officials declined to discuss any contract talks with Wilson.

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