Jeanette Zulauf never understood why state regulators didn’t investigate her husband’s electrocution by a ComEd wire that had been out of code for decades.
She couldn’t figure out why those same state regulators tried to shield ComEd in her wrongful death lawsuit against the utility company, either, as she watched the Illinois Commerce Commission fight hard against a court order to turn over any documents related to her case and initially refused to let agency employees be deposed.
Her bewilderment narrowed significantly Friday, when ComEd stipulated in federal court documents that it had engaged in a yearslong bribery scheme as it sought legislative help for rates and other considerations.
The documents did not mention the Zulauf case, but she questions whether ComEd’s possible favored status played a role in the ICC’s hands-off approach to her husband’s death.
“I have been trying to find answers for so long,” Jeanette Zulauf said. “I could never have imagined we would be here. It’s a different ballgame now. It’s one thing when I thought it was just an accident. Is it still an accident? If someone would have done their jobs, would this have still happened? There are just a lot of questions, and it brings out a lot of anger.”
The bribery case is expected to play a part in the wrongful death lawsuit, as attorneys for the Zulauf family say they intend to depose alleged players to determine how deep the power company’s paid-for influence runs within state government. Specifically, the legal teams want to know if the ICC’s lack of independent investigation into the electrocution and public safety risks caused by improperly installed wires had anything to do with the cozy relationship cemented by ComEd’s checkbook.
“Looking at what’s been filed recently in federal court, it begs the question: Does ComEd act this way because it believes it will not be held to account by the state agencies that are charged with its oversight? How far does ComEd’s influence with its regulatory agency go?” said attorney David Wise, who represents Jordan Zulauf. “This is a lot of the information that has been sought in this case. We’ve been stonewalled and stymied at every turn. And I think it’s about time, particularly with these federal filings coming out, that we got these answers.”
The attorneys said at a news conference Monday that they have reached out to federal prosecutors to share the information they already gleaned through their lawsuits.
ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million fine to end the federal investigation into the company. Though the company acknowledged extensive wrongdoing, the situation was completely unrelated to Robert Zulauf’s death and did not involve the Illinois Commerce Commission, a company spokesman said.
“The agreement resolves all aspects of the government’s investigation into ComEd, as outlined in the Statement of Facts, which contain no allegations related to the ICC,” spokesman Paul Elsberg said.
An ICC spokeswoman disputed suggestions that the commission placed ComEd’s interest above public safety.
“The ICC works tirelessly to ensure consumers across Illinois have access to safe, reliable and affordable utility service, and to be fair and transparent in the process,” spokeswoman Victoria Crawford said.
A Tribune investigation last year found the Illinois Commerce Commission has done little to ensure that the politically influential power company addresses the public safety risk that resulted in Robert Zulauf death.
Zulauf, a 32-year-old cable line worker, died in November 2016 after an out-of-code guy wire — a metal line that runs diagonally from the pole to the ground to provide support — came loose and made contact with a ComEd wire. His nephew, 23-year-old Jordan Zulauf, suffered severe injuries and had to have both arms amputated.
The electrical current that shot through Robert Zulauf’s body was so strong that his hard hat flew off and he burst into flames, according to police reports. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jordan Zulauf, who worked for his uncle, was also seriously injured by the wire. He was flown from the northern Illinois town of Sterling to Rockford, where doctors amputated his arms and he remained in a coma for several weeks.
At the time of Robert Zulauf’s death, his wife, Jeanette, was seven months pregnant with their third child. Besides her two school-age children, she would soon become the primary caretaker to a newborn and an adult nephew who had to relearn even the most basic skills.
Court records show that the ICC — the government entity charged with ensuring reliable, efficient and safe utility services to the public — did not conduct its own investigation of Robert Zulauf’s death. Instead, regulators relied on ComEd’s findings, a tightly held report in which the utility cleared itself of wrongdoing.
ComEd engineers have acknowledged in court records that the guy wire involved in Robert Zulauf’s electrocution had been improperly installed in 1968 and remained a public safety risk for nearly 50 years until the tragedy.
The Illinois Commerce Commission did not verify whether ComEd has addressed the safety issues that led to Robert Zulauf’s death. It gave ComEd a set of orders after its review of the company’s investigation, but state law bars those documents from public inspection.
The ICC has “only their word” that ComEd complied with orders from its regulator, according to court records.
The state agency has just two engineers responsible for millions of poles. ComEd has 30 inspectors for its 1.4 million poles.
“The way ComEd has willfully ignored the maintenance of its nearly 1 million poles was simply a tragedy waiting to happen,” said attorney Bob Bingle, who represents Jordan Zulauf. “We demand that the ICC meet its obligation to properly oversee ComEd so that it does not abuse its virtual monopoly in a large portion of Illinois.”
Jeanette Zulauf questions whether the $1.32 million ComEd says it paid to associates of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan for doing “little or no work” as part of the bribery scheme from 2011 to 2019 could have been used to hire more inspectors. Prosecutors noted the scheme began in 2011 when key regulatory matters were before the Illinois House, which Madigan controls.
“With all the emotions I’m feeling right now, I feel suffocated,” Jeanette Zulauf said. “Anger, annoyance, frustration, sadness. I’m feeling all of that. It’s all bringing me back to those first couple of days after it happened.”
Jordan, who has been forced to relearn even the most basic skills such as dressing and feeding himself, told the Tribune he had experienced only one emotion when he learned of the criminal case.
“When has the state of Illinois ever looked out for anyone else?” he asked. “I was more angry than anything else.”
Court records show ComEd blames the Zulaufs for the electric shocks, arguing that one of the men purposefully detached the guy wire and caused it to come in contact with the power line. In the same documents, the utility did not explain its reasons for believing the men tampered with the wire and has acknowledged the wire was improperly installed.
Zulauf family attorneys deny either man did it, saying they were both safety-driven contractors who wouldn’t have put their lives at risk.
“We are calling on ComEd to come clean on its behavior, where for decades it has not lived up to its responsibility to provide the safe transmission of power to the people of our state,” said attorney Stephan Blandin, who represents Jeanette Zulauf and Robert Zulauf’s estate.
The ICC announced late Friday that it is requesting ComEd appear before the commission to discuss ethics reforms later this month. A ComEd spokesman said company executives would attend the meeting.
“To support accountability and transparency, ComEd welcomes the opportunity to appear at the ICC’s open meeting to discuss the robust actions we’re taking to aggressively identify and address deficiencies, including enhancing our compliance governance and our lobbying policies, to ensure this cannot happen again,” Elsberg said.
In touting the agency’s commitment to transparency and accountability, the ICC announcement did not mention that its chairwoman, Carrie Zalewski, is the daughter-in-law of one of the alleged players in bribery scheme.
Zalewski, an attorney and engineer, has worked for several other state agencies and was a regulator at the Illinois Pollution Control Board before being appointed to a five-year term in March 2019. She is married to state Rep. Michael J. Zalewski, D-Riverside, who is the son of former Chicago Ald. Michael R. Zalewski, who stepped down in May 2018.
The court documents allege a member of Madigan’s camp and a ComEd executive arranged for Associate 3 — a former alderman who retired in May 2018 — to be paid $5,000 a month indirectly as a subcontractor. The Tribune has identified that former alderman as Michael R. Zalewski.
An ICC spokeswoman said the chairwoman does not have a conflict of interest in overseeing ComEd regulation. Gov. J.B. Pritzker also said he has full confidence in her.
Blandin, however, has called for her to step down following a bitter legal battle in which the ICC tried unsuccessfully battle to shield ComEd from scrutiny in the family’s wrongful death lawsuit. The state agency spent months fighting a court order to turn over documents related to an electrocution.
Blandin said he tried to call Carrie Zalewski to discuss the need for transparency during that time, but she would not return his calls. He wants the ICC to audit ComEd’s poles to determine how many improperly installed wires exist, but the commission has made no public moves toward that end.
After taking depositions of several ComEd employees, Blandin said he believes there could be thousands of guy wires that are out of code in northern Illinois.
“She has known for over a year that we have been attempting to get the documents from the ICC to find out what happened,” Blandin said. “Even though this has been in the media for a better part of a year, she hasn’t done anything. And you have to wonder why.”
Since 2009, the company has identified “a few thousand” utility poles with guy wire insulator defects or violations – representing less than .5 percent of the 1.4 million utility poles in ComEd’s service territory. The defective wires were promptly scheduled for repair, Elsberg said.
With the case set to go to trial early next year, Jeanette Zulauf is bracing herself for future revelations from federal prosecutors, who say their investigation is ongoing.
“I don’t know what will happen next,” she said. “We’re going backwards on our grief train now and the wounds are very rough.”
Jordan Zalauf’s eyes welled with tears as he thought about the future. He doesn’t know what kind of career he can have now. He just knows he wanted the old one.
“I loved my job,” he said as his voice choked with emotion. “I wanted to work with my uncle. I just loved my job.”
