Burr Ridge Spends At Least $13K In Dispute With Official

Burr Ridge IL

18 February, 2021

2:01 PM

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BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge spent almost $13,000 in legal bills in the first two months of a dispute with its finance director, who has been on leave since early September. As of Thursday, Jerry Sapp is still listed as the village's finance director on Burr Ridge's website. But the Village Board last month appointed Assistant Finance Director Amy Nelson as the interim director. A call to Sapp's office extension prompts a message that says, "I did not recognize that as a valid entry." Online extra: Check two years of Burr Ridge's legal bills Officials have been tight-lipped about their dispute with Sapp, who suffered a medical emergency on the job on Sept. 3. He said a doctor cleared him for work a few days later, but the village has barred him from returning, despite his repeated requests. Because he is on paid leave, Sapp has continued to receive his salary of more than $130,000 a year. Recently, Burr Ridge Trustee Zach Mottl sent Burr Ridge Patch two years of legal bills from the village's law firm, Storino, Ramello & Durkin, which included Sapp-related costs. The bills were through October. In an email, Patch asked Mayor Gary Grasso about the amounts of the Sapp-related legal bills from November through January. He did not return the message, although he answered one around the same time about another issue. Patch has filed a public records request for the legal bills for the last three months. At a number of meetings, Mottl has asked the village to let Sapp come back to work. At a meeting in January, trustees laughed about Sapp's situation, prompting Mottl to chide them. Mottl has suggested that age discrimination may be at play in the situations involving Sapp and former Village Administrator Doug Pollock, who resigned with severance pay. In December, Grasso credited Sapp, among others, for the village's receiving of a top budget award. Sapp declined to comment on his situation Thursday. He has been the finance director for nearly a quarter century.