House Speaker Michael Madigan is now denying that a long-time campaign worker wouldn’t have been fired for sexual harassment had his accuser not gone public.

He announced Monday that he dismissed political aide Kevin Quinn for sending inappropriate messages to campaign subordinate Alaina Hampton. The statement came one day after the Chicago Tribune published Hampton’s account.

Madigan says he became aware of Alaina Hampton’s allegations when he got a letter at his home from Hampton in November of last year. He turned the letter over to his political attorney Heather Wier Vaught.

Vaught says it took nearly three months because investigations need to be “fair and balanced.”

Madigan dismissed calls for him to step down as state Democratic Party Chairman or as the nation’s longest-serving state House speaker.