Lawsuit Alleges Rutherford Grabbed Man's Genitals; Rutherford Denies Allegations

Illinois Treasurer and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Rutherford denied sexual harassment allegations made against him by a former state employee, WGN reported.

The sexual harassment lawsuit was filed by Ed Michalowski, Rutherford's former director of community affairs and marketing. Michalowski alleges that Rutherford grabbed his genitals during an overnight retreat at Rutherford's Pontiac home in 2011, the Sun-Times reported.

The newspaper reported that Michalowski also alleged that in August 2011 Rutherford approached Michalowski in a Springfield bar and said “If you go home with me you can have anything you want in the office.”

Crain's reported that Rutherford held a news conference Jan. 31 stating that an employee was making false allegations against him. Michalowski resigned from Rutherford's office last week.

Fox News reported Feb. 2 that Michalowski is in debt and sought $300,000 from Rutherford. Video of the Fox report is attached to this post.

However, Fox also reported that another source backed up one of Michalowski's claims – that Rutherford pressured state employees to do political work.