State’s stance threatens mediation in AG sex case

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Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann

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Anthony Gutierrez

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Vanessa Stout

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Cindy Stankoski

By ALAN JOHNSON

The women, who worked for Marc Dann, feel they have been victimized a second time.

COLUMBUS — Mediation appears ready to blow up in the sexual harassment cases involving two employees of former Attorney General Marc Dann, in part because the state’s hired attorneys are arguing that the women “got what they asked for.”

Sources told The Dispatch that the state offered Cindy Stankoski and Vanessa Stout financial settlements of approximately $10,000 to $15,000, along with a public statement calling the women “heroes” for coming forward with the harassment accusations that eventually led to Dann’s resignation under fire May 14.

They sought $400,000 apiece, plus attorney fees.

However, in a Sept. 19 letter to Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers, Rex Elliott, attorney for Stankoski and Stout, called the state’s mediation tactics “shameful.”

“It is now clear, moreover, that the state never had any real desire to engage in a discussion over resolution but rather would prefer to attack Cindy and Vanessa and portray them as women ‘who got what they asked for.’

“It is unfortunate that the state has elected to treat these two courageous women in this manner,” Elliott wrote.

Stankoski and Stout, in separate interviews, said they feel they have been victimized a second time by the state.

“We did this to stop corruption, and it’s still going on,” Stout said.

Elliott’s next step would be asking the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a letter ending the sexual-harassment inquiry — of which mediation was a part. That so-called “right to sue” letter would allow Elliott to take the state to court.

Attorney general spokesman Jim Gravelle said in response to a public records request for the Sept. 19 letter, “We have no public record that fits that description.” The Dispatch obtained the letter through other sources.

“All parties to the mediation process have signed an agreement which forbids any discussion of the proceedings with individuals who are not involved in the mediation process,” Gravelle said. “If I respond to your questions, I will be in violation of that agreement. I can say only that the office of the attorney general continues to participate in the mediations.”

The mediation positions staked out by Jeffrey S. Hiller of Columbus and Suellen Oswald of Cleveland, attorneys with the Littler Mendelson law firm who are being paid $20,000 to handle the case, appear to contrast sharply with the conclusions of an internal investigation by Ben Espy, executive assistant attorney general, and Julie Pfeiffer, senior assistant attorney general.

Espy and Pfeiffer’s May 3 report found, among other things, that the women’s supervisor, Anthony Gutierrez, should be fired because he created a “hostile working environment” for employees in the General Services Division that he supervised. The report said Gutierrez “constantly pressured them [Stankoski and Stout] for sexual activity and even went so far as to give Ms. Stout a sex toy and suggested that he wanted to see her use it.”

Gutierrez’s comments to Stankoski and Stout were laced with “sexual overtones and demeaning implications,” the Espy-Pfeiffer report said.

Rather than take their complaints directly to court, Stankoski and Stout agreed in late July to mediation with the state. Cleveland attorney Niki Schwartz was picked as mediator.

After the state sought a postponement, the only mediation session was held on Sept. 2. No agreement was reached; there has been no progress since that time, sources said.