A Chicago-area woman is accusing Willow Creek Community Church leaders of looking the other way when she was sexually harassed and assaulted in the late 1990s.

She was a teenager at the time, working in the suburban church’s car-repair ministry. Now in her mid-40s, the woman is suing the beleaguered megachurch that was once famous for teaching evangelicals around the country how to be “seeker sensitive.”

Choosing to remain anonymous, the woman is identified in court documents only as “Jane Doe.” Her suit was filed in late July and was first reported Monday by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Doe’s attorney, Kevin J. Golden, told the Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court that he wants to present her case to a jury, where he will ask for damages “in excess of $50,000.”

Golden claims the megachurch was negligent and should be found liable for failing to run background checks on employees, provide necessary training or look into allegations of misconduct.

“Willow Creek did not conduct a reasonable and complete investigation,” the lawsuit says. “The sexual abuse of Plaintiff and the circumstances under which it occurred caused her to develop … symptoms of psychological disorders, including great shame, guilt, self-blame, anxiety, repressed memory, suppressed memory, and dissociation.”

The church’s top leadership has turned over since the alleged incident.

In 2018, founding minister Bill Hybels was accused of making suggestive comments to women on staff and inviting them — sometimes repeatedly — to spend time alone with him in hotel rooms. Hybels denied the allegations, calling them “flat-out lies” and claiming to be the victim of “a calculated and continual attack.”

He then conceded, “I placed myself in situations that would have been far wiser to avoid” and resigned ahead of his scheduled retirement. Hybels’ hand-picked successors and the church’s elder board followed suit, resigning the same year. Most pastors who headed up the church’s multiple campuses left as well.

The next full-time senior minister, David Dummitt, described Willow Creek as “a place where trust has broken down.” He stepped down last year, telling the church he was “a little tired.”

The current senior minister, Shawn Williams, only joined the staff in 2020.

Willow Creek declined to answer specific questions on Monday about the allegations in the new lawsuit. In a statement to the Sun-Times, Willow Creek said, “We continue to pray for truth, healing, and the well-being of all and remain deeply committed to the safety, dignity, and care of all who are part of our church community.”

‘Women are down here’

Doe grew up in Hoffman Estates, a northwestern Chicago suburb less than five miles from Willow Creek’s main campus in South Barrington. She and her family attended the church in the late 1990s, according to the suit.

Doe started working part-time at the car ministry, Christian Automotive Repair Service, or “CARS.” People pointed to the car repair operation when they talked about how Willow Creek was different from other churches.

Doe was excited at age 15 to get involved and looked forward to the challenge of learning auto maintenance and how to drive a stick-shift vehicle.

She was unprepared for her boss, 26-year-old Robert John Condon, who is identified in the lawsuit as a former felon. He complimented her a lot, Doe told the Sun-Times, saying things like “You look so pretty today” and “You have such a great laugh.”

Then he started to casually touch her, brushing her arm and putting his hand on her lower back and knee, according to Doe.

Doe said she found it “daunting” to deal with him.

“I had no experience with men,” she told the Sun-Times. “You’re also in this mind frame of men are up here, and women are down here, we’re subservient.”

Condon’s comments allegedly grew more sexual. According to Doe, he started speculating about what she would like to do in bed.

In 1998, when Doe was 17 and Condon 27 or 28, he allegedly took her car keys,  locked the office door so she could not leave and grabbed her breasts. He touched her over her shirt, then under it, Doe said.

Later that night, Condon showed up at Doe’s home, according to the lawsuit. Doe was “hysterical,” she told the Sun-Times, and her mom ordered Condon to leave, threatening to call police.

“Willow Creek had a duty to protect Jane Doe from sexual assault by an employee,” Golden wrote in the lawsuit. “Willow Creek had a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety and protection of Plaintiff while she worked in the Car Ministry. … Willow Creek had a duty to provide Plaintiff with a reasonably safe and adequately supervised workplace.”

No one talked to the teenage girl

Doe’s parents told a church elder she was deeply upset by something that happened at work and that Condon had unexpectedly shown up at their home, according to the lawsuit. The elder is not named in court documents.

Condon subsequently confessed to sex addiction and was sent to counseling, according to the lawsuit. He took a six-week leave from work.

According to Doe, no one from the church ever talked with her or her family about what happened.

“I was basically never acknowledged,” she told the Sun-Times. “They let him have his job back.”

Before the case can go forward, however, Doe will likely have to prove she forgot the traumatic thing that happened to her. In Illinois, the statute of limitations says victims of childhood sexual abuse can file suit up to 20 years after the plaintiff turns 18. Doe’s window closed in 2019.

Golden told the circuit court that when Doe was a teenager, she did not understand that what Condon was doing was sexual harassment and abuse. Then she repressed the memory, only recalling what happened in 2024. He is arguing she should be allowed more time.

The next court hearing is scheduled in Chicago on Oct. 29.

Daniel Silliman is senior reporter/editor at The Roys Report. He began his two decades in journalism covering crime in Atlanta and has since led major investigations into abuse and misconduct in Christian contexts. Daniel and his wife live in Johnson City, Tennessee