Metra hired a team of outside lawyers, who worked more than seven months, to conduct an internal investigation that cost the agency nearly $1.57 million.

But the outcome of the 2023 investigation remains shrouded, after the rail agency refused to make public reports or memos produced by the law firm, McGuireWoods.

The investigation stemmed from anonymous complaints made to Metra about the agency’s Police Department, and bills from the attorneys hint at the scope of the work: McGuireWoods undertook analysis related to an “investigation of potential disparate treatment.” Also included among 130 pages of attorneys bills was reference to “EEO” incidents and complaints, according to documents obtained by the Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Still, Metra’s failure to publicize information about the outcome of the investigation — and the agency’s decision to rely on an outside law firm to investigate its Police Department in the first place — raises questions about Metra’s motives, government transparency advocates said.

“I think it’s safe to say that given the scope and cost of this investigation, given the widespread use of Metra and how many people rely on it every single day, there is a strong public interest in knowing what they found,” said Jack Bentley, executive director of the Elmhurst-based Citizen Advocacy Center. “And I think we should start by encouraging Metra to rethink their position.”

The internal investigation was previously reported by the Daily Herald, but the details remain unclear. Metra denied a Tribune public records request for copies of the report, citing attorney-client privilege and noting the documents include preliminary recommendations that include legal opinions and analysis, which can be withheld. The state attorney general’s office agreed Metra could withhold the report.

Nonetheless, the work of McGuireWoods attorneys and staff was extensive, the invoices show.

The attorneys conducted interviews, including with former employees and, in at least one case, the wife of a witness. They prepared for interviews with “upper command,” and compiled a dataset of 231 employees, the documents show.

They reviewed personnel files and searched for discipline and resignation letters. They analyzed pay changes and officers’ selection to “specialty” positions, the documents show.

Metra paid for work by partners in the law firm, associates, paralegals and other staff and attorneys, including some identified as “outsourced.” They were billed for software licenses and other supplies.

The investigation was spurred by anonymous complaints, which included wide-ranging allegations, including workplace sexual relationships, harassment of female officers, racism, special treatment of some officers and inconsistency in police policies, according to a copies obtained by the Tribune.

Such complaints could be referred for investigation by the Office of the Executive Inspector General, the state inspector that has jurisdiction over Metra, rather than hiring an outside firm, said Connie Mixon, a political science professor and director of the urban studies program at Elmhurst University.

Inspectors general can be overburdened, she acknowledged, but results should be made public regardless of who conducts the investigation. Failure to do so undermines transparency, accountability and public trust, she said.

“It at least leads to that question of, is (hiring a law firm) an attempt to hide disclosure or prevent the public from finding out the results of internal investigations?” she said.

Metra CEO Jim Derwinski declined to discuss the outcome of the investigation in more detail, calling it a “privileged work product.”

Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said in an email McGuireWoods was hired “to ensure impartiality and objectivity, as it has no pre-existing relationships or biases within Metra or its employees.”

Metra had a prior relationship with the firm’s consulting arm, previously awarding the company lobbying deals. Gillis said hiring McGuireWoods was independent of any other work done by the firm because the investigation was a legal matter.

“These attorneys are subject matter experts and have specialized skills, which can lead to a more credible and fair outcome, especially when dealing with sensitive issues,” he said. “It was determined that employees would likely be more forthcoming with outside individuals.”

Metra did not think it made sense to refer issues regarding the Police Department to the inspector general’s office, because a 2022 complaint to that office alleging inappropriate behavior, favoritism and other issues in the police department had been referred back to Metra to investigate, Gillis said.

As the McGuireWoods investigation neared its conclusion in September 2023, then-Metra police Chief Joseph Perez informed the railroad’s CEO he would be moving his planned retirement date up by six months, from May 2024 to November 2023, with his last day of work in October.

“I understand the potential difficulties this abbreviated timeline may present,” he wrote in a letter to the CEO, a copy of which was obtained through a public records request. “I will do all I can to provide the support you deem appropriate to ensure a smooth and seamless transition.”

Perez, reached by phone, said his retirement was unrelated to the investigation. Rather, his father had gotten sick and ultimately died months after he left Metra, he said. He realized leaving a few months earlier would not alter his pension, and he never intended to work more than 10 years for Metra, he said.

Perez was hired in 2014, as Metra addressed the fallout of a blistering investigative report that found the agency operated an “antiquated” Police Department with excessive overtime, irrational staffing plans and the department had not undergone any firearms qualification training in more than two years.

The report, finished months before Metra officials released it publicly, raised concerns about training, counterterrorism efforts and commitment to passenger safety, and raised questions about the effectiveness of Metra’s police force at that time.

Perez said because of the circumstances under which he was hired, he was never popular with many officers in the department, and during his tenure there were multiple inquiries into the department.

“My understanding from every one of those investigations — that at least I was given results of — I was fully exonerated from wrongdoing in all investigations,” he said.

He left before receiving the results of the McGuireWoods investigation and did not know the outcome, he said. He had been interviewed as part of the attorneys’ work.

“We did a lot to turn that place around, and I thought the Police Department was well on its way to becoming professional and recognized in the area,” he said.

As Perez was leaving and after the attorneys stopped billing for the internal investigation, Metra informed the executive inspector general’s office the agency was hiring another outside agency for work at the Police Department. Metra received a proposal in October 2023 from Kristen Ziman Consulting, a firm run by the former Aurora police chief.

This time, the consultant was hired to help with the search for the next police chief, and was to also evaluate the “organizational culture and and performance management” of the Police Department.