A protester holding a sign that says, “We’re sick of this,” stands in front of a lifted DuSable Bridge on May 30, 2020. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News)

Two city employees who were reprimanded for citing a nonprofit organization for helping people trapped downtown during the unrest triggered by the police murder of George Floyd in May 2020 were nevertheless promoted to supervisory positions in Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, according to a probe by the city’s watchdog.

The two employees, a manager and a supervisor, “incompetently performed the duties of their positions” on May 30, 2020, when they cited the leaders of the Chicago Freedom School for providing free water, granola bars and pizza to people in need after then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot raised all but one of the bridges into and out of downtown, shut down the CTA and imposed a curfew, according to a report released Friday by the city’s watchdog.

The employees “improperly” issued a cease-and-desist order to the school for a “purported failure to obtain a retail food license,” according to Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s probe.

Both employees violated city rules that prohibit employees from performing their duties incompetently, according to the probe.

“The employees demonstrated a lack of necessary knowledge in applying the (Municipal Code of Chicago), a lack of ability in the assessment of evidence, and a lack of knowledge regarding (Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection) instruction for the issuance of a cease and desist forthwith,” the probe said.

In addition, the manager failed to “competently supervise the subordinate supervisor by failing to halt the issuance of the cease-and-desist order and the supervisor failed to competently supervise” an investigator who prepared the order “resulting in inaccurate information” in the citation and in city records, according to the probe.

Neither employee was identified in the inspector general’s quarterly report, in keeping with the city’s rules, nor was the Chicago Freedom School identified.

In response to the inspector general’s recommendation that both employees be disciplined, the manager received “verbal counseling” and the supervisor received a “verbal reprimand,” according to the watchdog’s report.

The manager now serves as a deputy commissioner for the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, and the supervisor now serves as a manager for the department known as BACP.

A spokesperson for BACP Commissioner Ken Meyer said the promotions occurred in 2021 and 2022, and the inspector general’s probe was not completed until September 2023, nearly two and a half years after unrest swept the city, leaving stores looted and property destroyed.

It was unclear why the ongoing probe of the two employees did not halt their promotions.

The Chicago Freedom School sued the city in July 2020 over the cease-and-desist order, calling it a “deliberate attack on the young Black and Brown people in this city who dare raise their voices against police violence and oppression and an attempt to intimidate anyone who supports them.”

One week after the suit was filed, the city agreed to rescind the order and pay $10,000 to settle the lawsuit, according to records provided by the city’s Law Department.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]