ELGIN, Ill. — A Chicago woman is filing a complaint against a suburban staffing agency, alleging discrimination after hearing what was left in a voicemail for her.

Ashley Chapman is a single mother of two who recently moved back home to Chicago after living in North Dakota for several years.

In need of a job to provide for her kids, she said she enlisted the help of a local staffing agency headquartered in Elgin, and the voicemail in question was left after this.

The voicemail starts off like any other, but the caller appeared to not hang up properly, leading to various inappropriate comments.

“Let’s see what Ashley Newman looks like,” one comment can be heard. “I don’t think she’s Black … I think she’s white … Yeah, I think she’s white trash.”

“Your baby daddy’s married and you’ve had unprotected sex,” another comment can be heard.

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“It was a repulsive message and in cases like this, you don’t find out about why decisions were made,” said David Fish, Chapman’s lawyer. “Usually, people aren’t stupid enough to leave a voicemail like this.”

Chapman and her lawyer have filed a formal charge of discrimination with the Illinois Department of Human Rights, which is a pre-requisite for any potential lawsuit, and they want the company investigated.

“What we’ve alleged in our charge of discrimination is that there’s marital status discrimination, that there’s gender discrimination, and that there’s race discrimination,” Fish said.

Chapman said she called back in spite of the voicemail, still hoping to be hired.

“I need a job. I need money for my kids. it wouldn’t matter where I worked,” Chapman said. “People make mistakes, but they just took it too far.”

WGN News is not naming the staffing agency since the company, or any of their employees, has not yet been formally charged with a crime.

The staffing agency has also not returned WGN News’ requests for comment.

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