Everest Metro Joint Finance Committee Meeting. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
WESTON, WI (WSAU) — The Everest Metro Police Department employee who filed a sexual harassment complaint against Chief Clay Schulz will keep her job but won’t work in the same building as him.
A joint committee of the Everest Metropolitan Police Department Finance Committee and the Everest Metro Municipal Court Finance Committee made that decision on Tuesday after a 60-minute closed session. Committee members decided that her office will move to a vacant room in the Village Municipal Center for now, but an attorney representing her says the case is far from over.
Ben Hitchcock Cross with the Cross Law Firm in Milwaukee says the process hasn’t been fair for his client, who filed the complaint several months ago. He says he doesn’t think the Police Commission responded meaningfully. “They have done nothing to resolve or ultimately address the issue. Even the rules that they say she violated, there is no such rule.
“I think we will need to explore our options [including] further legal action. There is no question that this in itself is illegal and needs to be scrutinized by the courts,” added Hitchcock Cross.
The employee and her attorney did request to have evidence in the case presented in an open session. That request was denied, leading to a brief, tense exchange between Hitchcock Cross and the joint committee. He called the denial a violation of open meeting laws.
In addition to moving her workspace out of the police building, she will have a letter of reprimand put in her file.
RELATED: Details Released Regarding Allegations Against Everest Metro PD Chief
One member of the committee did move to terminate her. That motion died for lack of a second. He was also the lone dissenting vote in the 5-1 decision to retain her but move her office out of the Police building.
The joint committee did not comment further on the issue after the vote. They immediately voted to go back into closed session to discuss another personnel matter.
Chief Schulz has denied the allegations, calling them frivolous and denying any wrongdoing. The Everest Metro Police Commission declined to take action against him after an independent investigation.
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