BREAKING NEWS: Investigation refutes unconfirmed allegations against city manager, costs thousands | News

Documents obtained by the Register show that on February 22, Richmond City Councilwoman Tammy Cole received an anonymous message to her personal email address with the subject line “The Truth About Rob Minerich.”

The contents of this message prompted the commission to authorize an investigation into the conduct of Richmond City Manager Rob Minerich.

The final report of that investigation, which was handled by Carol Petit of Vaughn Petit Legal Group, LLC., was presented to commissioners prior to a regularly scheduled commission meeting on May 28.

A copy of the original email and the final report was obtained by the Richmond Register through a public records request.

“The email is hearsay within hearsay. There is no way to attribute the statement to a specific declarant or to verify the allegations through a direct interview with the person who allegedly made them,” the report said.

The report, which was prepared based on interviews with at least 50 current and former employees, past complaints and other city files, concluded that there was no substantive basis for the following allegations against Minerich, including sexual harassment, hostile work environment or retaliation.

“Based on my investigation, I cannot determine whether the vague allegations of retaliation against Rob Minerich raised in the anonymous complaint are supported by substantive evidence,” the report said.

From February through May, the law firm issued bills totaling over $38,600 to the City of Richmond and the Kentucky League of Cities.

The invoices obtained in response to a request for information do not explicitly state how much the city paid to the Kentucky League of Cities.

While Vaughn Petit Legal Group’s interviews did not produce “substantial” evidence against Minerich, the law firm’s report noted that there were concerns about the work environment at Richmond City Hall.

“Many witnesses agree that the atmosphere at City Hall is tense and people are afraid to socialize. However, not all witnesses agree that this is directly attributable to Rob Minerich. Rather, the general ‘gossipy’ atmosphere at City Hall is a common factor,” the report said.

The city manager said of the investigation: “It is unfortunate that city employees had to go through this. It was an anonymous email sent to a private email address and the allegations are baseless.”

In the message Cole received in February, the complainant said he was inspired to make the statement by reading a February 18 Facebook post by Commissioner Jim Newby that focused primarily on citizen concerns, including fears about the current work culture, workflows and power structures at City Hall, concerns about inefficient processes, and concerns about the interaction between the city and citizens.

The author subsequently made allegations of harassment and a hostile work environment against Minerich, claiming he talked about female employees’ bodies, gossiped about them, and retaliated against city employees.

The anonymous email said: “Most are afraid to talk about their experiences because they don’t want to lose their job. I have had conversation after conversation with employees who have had negative experiences or observed questionable behavior, but they all agreed that it is too risky to do anything about it… Intimidation by management in the past has created a general sense of fear among employees.”

Now Minerich expressed his hope that things can continue, commenting: “Team Richmond will now put this behind us and focus on doing what we do best: serving the citizens of our community.”

This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available.