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Mediation addresses sexual harassment
All parties involved in the mediation won’t comment until it’s concluded.
The Ohio attorney general’s office has begun mediation proceedings with two women who were sexual harassed during the Marc Dann administration.
The internal investigation into the harassment eventually led to Dann’s May 14 resignation as well as the firing of two administrators and the forced resignation of the office’s chief of staff. Since Dann’s resignation, about a half-dozen other administrators have quit.
With the mediation beginning Tuesday, the attorney general’s office issued a statement Wednesday on behalf of all the parties involved in the matter.
It reads: “Mediations are strictly confidential. This one is still in process. No information will be provided by any party, counsel or the mediator until it is concluded.”
The results of an internal attorney general’s office investigation determined Anthony Gutierrez, the office’s director of general services, had sexually harassed two female subordinates, Vanessa Stout and Cindy Stankoski.
Gutierrez, along with Leo Jennings III, the office’s communications director, were fired by Dann on May 2, the day the report was released. Also, Edgar Simpson, Dann’s chief of staff, resigned under pressure May 1.
The three were longtime, close friends of Dann, a Liberty Democrat.
After the report was made public, Dann admitted to a consensual affair with a female subordinate and that he was ill-prepared to be the attorney general when he took office in January 2007. He resigned under pressure by leaders of his political party May 14.
Stout and Stankoski, who still work at the office, are seeking $400,000 each and $100,000 in attorney fees.
Niki Schwartz, a Cleveland lawyer, is mediating the cases.
The mediation is nonbinding, and the women’s attorneys have said a lawsuit could be filed.
skolnick@vindy.com