A full report on the allegations against Hupp released | News, Sports, Jobs

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The full report on the investigation into the harassment charges against former Marietta Police Chief Rodney Hupp was released by the City of Marietta on Tuesday.

In a letter accompanying the report, Mayor Josh Schlicher and Director of Security Steve Wetz said that when the complaint was filed in March, the city immediately hired an outside lawyer to conduct the investigation.

“Under the revised Ohio code and the terms of the Marietta City Police Department union contract, details of the investigation were to be kept confidential until the matter was brought to the fore. a thorough investigation and that a report be made, ”the letter said. “Because the former police chief voluntarily retired, no disciplinary or administrative action had to be taken. “

As soon as Hupp retired, Captain Aaron Nedeff was chosen to be the interim chef. He resumed the post of permanent chef last week.

The letter also says the recent investigation has heightened awareness in the city that new policies and protocols need to be put in place to better protect city employees.

Jessica Philemond, of Scott Scriven Law in Columbus, led the investigation, interviewing the complainant, 15 past and current officers “as well as other municipal government and non-police witnesses identified by the complainant and the respondent”.

Parts of the report were redacted and concerned specific legal advice.

In the report, Philemond said the complainant alleged unprofessional conduct against Hupp on March 23. She alleged a history of sexual harassment and / or discrimination during her years working for the police department.

It is alleged that the Complainant was refused positions on the basis of her gender and that she was treated differently from male officers with regard to uniform allowances and light duty for medical reasons.

“Finally, she alleges that she was subjected to an ongoing sexualized ‘locker room’ type atmosphere in relation to comments made by Chief Rodney Hupp,” the report said.

Philemond explained that the complainant said that she and Hupp “had been quite close when she was on patrol”. Once Hupp became a chef, she didn’t feel the same way about their relationship, the investigation revealed.

Several officers felt that Hupp somehow had a “crush” on the complainant and that she had received better treatment and opportunities than the other officers.

“Chief Hupp admitted it,” the report said.

The report said Hupp only issued a written reprimand to the complainant after testifying under oath in defense of a family member that she had made about 100 OVI arrests during her career, when she had only made 15.

“Some officers have called for her to be fired for perjury,” Philemond said in the report.

Many complaints were about inappropriate vulgar comments about the woman, although some officers “said they repeatedly told the chief to be careful what he said”.

“It appeared that neither Chief Hupp nor (the complainant) had a good understanding of the department’s policy on sexual harassment, or, if they did, they actively chose to violate it and did not reported their concerns, ”the investigation revealed. “Chief Hupp did not believe the conversations he had with (the woman) were harassing due to the nature of their friendship and his belief that she was” as vulgar as anyone else ” and that she had discussed matters of a sexual nature with him on several occasions.

Philemond wrote that all employees of the Marietta Town Police Department receive a copy of the department’s policy manual upon hire and follow the ongoing work of the daily training bulletin on the various policies of the department. In-person training is also provided during the tenure of the Chief and the Complainant.

The woman told the investigator that she had never received training on sexual harassment, although training records revealed that she had taken the training twice, as well as DTB’s work on sexual harassment. policy 313 on discriminatory harassment on seven occasions.

The report concluded that there were credibility issues with both the Chief and the Complainant.

“I conclude on a preponderance of evidence that Chief Hupp engaged in misconduct contrary to the discriminatory harassment policy of the Marietta Police Department 313,” Philemond wrote. “With respect to the conduct described above, (the woman’s) complaint is well founded. Further, since the nature of Chief Hupp’s misconduct did not reach the level of serious and pervasive conduct necessary to create a hostile or abusive work environment, I therefore do not find that Chief Hupp’s misconduct has reached the level of discriminatory harassment.

Attempts to contact the complainant and Hupp were unsuccessful.

Michele Newbanks can be contacted at [email protected].

In short :

The investigation into the harassment charges against former Marietta Police Chief Rodney Hupp has been concluded.

The investigation revealed that he had committed misconduct, but not discriminatory harassment.

The complainant’s allegations were partly founded.

The investigation was completed by a woman from a third-party Columbus law firm.

Source: time research

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