Sunday, April 20, 2008
ATTORNEY GENERAL
The players
The Ohio attorney general’s office is investigating allegations of sexual harassment filed by two female employees against their boss. Those involved include:
jAttorney General Marc Dann, a Liberty Democrat who captured the state office in 2006. At the time, Dann ran a small law practice at a strip plaza in his hometown and served as a state senator. Dann is a witness in the investigation.
Anthony Gutierrez is a neighbor of Dann’s and a longtime friend. He shared a condominium in Dublin with Dann and Leo Jennings, another attorney general employee and a longtime friend of Dann’s. Gutierrez is on paid leave from his $87,500-a-year job as the office’s director of general services accused of sexually harassing two of his subordinates.
Jennings, of Poland, is a local political consultant who helped engineer Dann’s 2006 statewide victory. He is on paid leave from his $102,000-a-year job as Dann’s communications director. The suspension is related to the sexual harassment investigation, but the attorney general’s office won’t give a specific reason.
Cindy Stankoski of New Albany, who works in the department’s telecommunications office, filed a sexual harassment complaint against Gutierrez, her boss. She also filed a criminal charge against him last week. She alleged that Gutierrez got her drunk and brought her back to the condo he shared with Dann and Jennings.
Vanessa Stout of Dublin, formerly of Masury, works in the department’s telecommunications office. She also filed a sexual harassment complaint against Gutierrez, her boss.
Sources: Attorney general’s office, Vindicator files