That report on the internal investigation of the Ohio Attorney General Office has been released. Just about the only person in the loop left standing is the AG himself Marc Dann, at least for now. As COLUMBUS DISPATCH's James Nash and Alan Johnson tell us , Governor Ted Strickland has no comment right now as he continues to review the report.
The report found that the supervisor Anthony Gutierrez who's at the center of the sexual-harassment internal investigation, note Nash and Johnson, made for a "hostile work environment, repeatedly drove a state vehicle after consuming alcohol and may have worked a private job on state time." Dann also was found to exhibit poor judgment when he welcomed the female complainants to his home. There was also a pattern of top people in the AG office ignoring behavior that should have concerned supervision. AG office communications director Leo Jennings III had attempted to impede the investigation. And, yes, Dann and his scheduler Jessica Utovich had been love birds.
Here are the personnel results:
- Anthony Gutierrez - fired
- Leo Jennings III - fired
- Edgar C. Simpson - resigned
- Jessica Utovich - resigned.
Here are the operations and policy changes which Dann announced:
- Review all managers' qualifications
- Contract with outside expert to evaluate use of state property and equipment
- Establish call center for anonymous employee complaints
- Create zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment
- Use outside investigator for harassment complaints
- Made sexual harassment training mandatory
- Reassign the Equal Employment Officer
- Cooperate with the outside investigations already underway
- Follow up with the OH Ethics Commission about Gutierrez's misuse of state property and the possibility that he conducted his own business on state time.
Will this report and its results finally end the biggest scandal in Dann's short time in office? Time will tell.
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