CHICAGO TRIBUNE
By Ray Long & John Byrne
The city fired the head of security at O’Hare and Midway airports Thursday for what City Hall sources said was his failure to disclose critical details of his prior employment at the Illinois Tollway, after a confidential memo obtained by the Tribune revealed numerous allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The Tribune reported last week that Jeffrey Redding, the city’s deputy aviation commissioner of security, was fired from the Tollway in 2015 after a female employee alleged that Redding sought sex and money in exchange for work-related favors. He denied any coercion and maintained that his relationship with the woman, a toll collector, was consensual.
Redding, 54, had been a point person in the investigation of the April 9 United Airlines passenger-dragging fiasco at O’Hare International Airport. He oversaw the officers who forcibly removed the passenger, Dr. David Dao, from his seat after he was bumped from the flight. On Thursday, Redding did not return messages left by phone and email.