Logo for the Marathon County Public Library System. Image courtesy: Marathon County Public Library/Facebook
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — An investigation into the workplace culture and leadership at the Marathon County Public Library has been concluded.
On Tuesday, August 8th, WSAU News received a copy of a report from von Briesen & Roper regarding an independent investigation into allegations from a Marathon County Public Library employee of a toxic and hostile work environment along with a copy of the complaint letter from Marathon County through a public records request. As a result of the investigation, two former employees have resigned, Director Ralph Illick and Business Manager Tom O’Neill, and one employee, Support Services Matthew Derpinghaus has been terminated.
RELATED: Illick Resigns as Marathon County Library Director Amid Investigation
The investigation into Illick and O’Neill began shortly after the Library Board of Trustees received a complaint letter from former employee Matthew Derpignhaus regarding improper management from Illick and O’Neill. In the complaint letter, Derpignhaus gave detailed allegations of a toxic and hostile work environment including instances of bullying, harassment, coercion, and threats of termination.
The complaint letter from Derpignhaus also detailed how Illick pressured him into writing a letter of support for the Marathon County Public Library to leave the Wisconsin Valley Library System for the South Central Library System. Derpinghaus said he felt that if he didn’t write the letter to change library systems he would face more bullying from Illick and O’Neill. Of the incident, Drpinghaus wrote, “In hindsight, I should never have written those things.
“The huge amount of ‘savings’ that Tom [O’Neill] has mentioned really concerned me. The only way that MCPL can move to SCLS is through the loss of jobs for people in Marathon County and through the loss of resources for those in our surrounding communities. As Ralph [Illick] only began to suggest that I should resign after SCLS estimates were acquired, I can’t help but wonder if getting rid of me was part of Tom’s plan to afford the system.
“The facts are that WVLS has been gradually improving their service. Looking back, from day one, I was told they were awful and incompetent and that Ralph and Tom’s personal loathing for WVLS is what is really driving this change. They often joked about the destruction this would cause WVLS.”
RELATED: MCPL Board Votes to Leave Wisconsin Valley Library Service
During their investigation into the work environment at the Marathon County Public Library under Illick and O’Neill’s leadership, von Briesen & Roper spoke with 15 current and former employees of MCPL along with Illick, O’Neill, and Derpignhaus. Through those interviews, the law firm found that “employees corroborated M.Derpinghaus’ allegation that MCPL had ‘a toxic and hostile work environment,’ which was directly attributable to the conduct of R. Illick and T. O’Neill.
“Many former employees said they left MCPL—notwithstanding their positive relationships with other coworkers—because of the “culture of fear” created by R. Illick and T. O’Neill and the manner in which they criticized and devalued the performance and contributions made by MCPL staff. MCPL staff reported that any concerns they raised about their positions were regularly belittled by both R. Illick and T. O’Neill, as though every staff member was easily replaceable and would not be missed if they resigned.”
“Employees were regularly disciplined or ‘forced out’ by R. Illick and T. O’Neill due to even the smallest of perceived performance issues or acts by which staff were perceived to be unnecessarily willful. It is for this reason that interviewees reported they were afraid to ever complain about the workplace environment for fear of harassment and retaliation by both R. Illick and T. O’Neill.”
Along with finding that Illick and O’Neill were creating a toxic and hostile work environment, through the employee interviews von Briesen & Roper found that Derpinghaus also contributed to the toxic and hostile work environment by making inappropriate comments to female employees without being disciplined. The investigation report says, “In particular, one MCPL employee terminated her position with MCPL due to inappropriate comments made to her by M. Derpinghaus and the manner in which those inappropriate comments were handled by R. Illick.”
“That employee’s supervisor thereafter terminated her own employment with MCPL due to M. Derpinghaus and his use of inappropriate comments with female employees and the manner in which M. Derpinghaus’ behavior was handled by R. Illick.”
The conclusion of the investigation by von Briesen & Roper found that Illick, O’Neill, and Derpinghaus failed to uphold Marathon County’s Core Values and failed to meet requirements in Marathon County’s Ethics Policy. The three also failed to follow all Marathon County work rules and failed to fulfill all of their duties and responsibilities in regards to their treatment of MCPL employees.
As a result of the investigation, Marathon County Corporation Counsel Michael Puerner says the Library Board of Trustees will work with the county’s Employee Resources Department to review policies and procedures for employee grievances. Education has also been provided to library staff to clarify their workplace expectations moving forward.
The Library Board of Trustees has not yet announced the finalist for the open Library Director position. As of July 19th, the board had narrowed down a field of 11 candidates to two finalists that were interviewed as early as August 2nd. Leah Giordano is currently serving as Interim Director.
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