Report about county administrator
Petersen's hope to fight back
by Karin L. Nauber
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| Former Todd County Administrator Mike Petersen is not taking his termination lying down. He has filed complaints against the county with both the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. |
According to a report prepared by Investigator Joshua Heggem of Pemberton, Sorlie, Rufer and Kershner, the county's labor law firm, against Mike Petersen, former Todd County administrator, there were several complaints alleging harassment and misconduct.
Heggem conducted the interviews with complainants and Petersen on October 9 and October 10. The record was closed on October 10, 2007.
On October 22 after a closed meeting of the commissioners to discuss allegations brought against Petersen, he was fired.
At that time, a shroud of mystery was created and nothing would or could be said about the reason for his termination.
According to County Labor Attorney Kristi Hastings, part of the reason that nothing could be said at that time was because a final disposition had not yet been reached.
The resolution regarding the reason(s) for Petersen's termination did not reveal much and reads: Whereas, information has been brought to the attention of this board concerning County Administrator Michael Petersen relative to the potential need for disciplinary action, and concerns raised by the board regarding Mr. Petersen's fit with the county; and whereas, this board, prior to making any decisions, has had an opportunity to review and/or had summarized for it Mr. Petersen's personnel file, copies of complaints received from employees of Todd County, and an investigative report prepared related to these complaints, along with the board's personal interactions with Mr. Petersen; and whereas, Mr. Petersen is a probationary employee with the county. His employment agreement with the county provides that Mr. Petersen can be terminated "at any time and for any reason" during his probationary period. As a result of information received by the board, this board notes and recognizes substantial concerns related to Mr. Petersen in his role as county administrator. Therefore be it resolved, that, based upon information received and reviewed by this board, this board hereby approves, effective immediately, the termination of Michael Petersen from his employment with Todd County, and, further, that Mark Blessing, on behalf of the board, is directed to communicate in writing and orally to Mr. Petersen the resolution of this board to terminate his employment and to pay Mr. Petersen one month's pay as severance, as required by the employment agreement between Mr. Petersen and Todd County.
On November 16, Reporter Tim King asked for specific information related to the complaint or charges against Petersen, the final disposition of the disciplinary action against Petersen along with the specific reasons for the action and the data, investigative reports and other written material that documented the basis for the action and the terms of any agreement settling any dispute arising from the disciplinary action and firing of Petersen.
On November 20 Hastings requested an opinion on whether this material could be made public.
On December 21 Hastings received a letter from the Information Policy Analysis Division with the Commissioner of Administration's advisory opinion that specific data could be released.
Private information including the names and departments of the people who made the allegations against Petersen were redacted from the material provided.
In a summary of the allegations, 19 allegations of harassment and/or misconduct were reported. The complainants were identified by letters to protect their identities.
The following allegations were made by RS on October 3 in a letter to Commissioner Mark Blessing. These are a brief summary as reported by Heggem in his investigative report.
Allegation 1: At a meeting between R and Mr. Petersen on August 22, 2007, Mr. Petersen made several inappropriate comments that made her feel threatened and uncomfortable, including a comment that there was nothing R could do to hurt his feelings, and if she tried, she would be the one with hurt feelings.
Allegation 2: Mr. Petersen commented on ZQ, including how she was intelligent, especially for a woman, was a "dynamo" and he told R he asked Z's husband, T, how he kept up with Z at home.
Allegation 3: Mr. Petersen stated that he does not hold grudges, "but you don't want to cross me."
Allegation 4: Mr. Petersen asked R if she plays basketball, and when she responded that she both played and coached her daughters, Mr. Petersen responded, "I thought so, you look very athletic."
Allegation 5: Mr. Petersen told R an offensive joke about a Hispanic man.
Allegation 6: Mr. Petersen asked R how tall she was when she stood up to leave.
Allegation 7: Mr. Petersen told R's husband, referring to R, "I bet she can kick your ass."
The following allegations were from ZQ on October 3 to Commissioner Mark Blessing. These are a brief summary as reported by Heggem in his investigative report.
Allegation 8: At their first meeting in August, Mr. Petersen joked that he could not get into any pornographic sites on his laptop.
Allegation 9: Also at their first meeting, Mr. Petersen joked with NO about Viagra.
Allegation 10: At their second meeting, Mr. Petersen called Z "girl" and N "woman" over the phone.
Allegation 11: After their fourth meeting, Mr. Petersen put his hand on Z's shoulder, pointed at others around her and stated, "this is how department heads should dress." After finding out Z was upset by this comment, Mr. Petersen apologized to her several times in the hall, grabbed her by the arms and called her "kiddo." He also told Z to tell him to "stuff it" the next time he makes a comment like that. Finally, Mr. Petersen sent Z an e-mail apologizing and stating, "Did I tell you that you look great!!!!!"
Allegation 12: Referring to Z, Mr. Petersen stated to Commissioner Randy Neumann, "doesn't she look great?"
Allegation 13: Mr. Petersen asked Z's husband, T, "How do you keep up with Z?"
Allegation 14: When asked how he was doing, Mr. Petersen responded to JK in the hallway, "I am goodsexually, too."
Allegation 15: Mr. Petersen told a joke in the recorder's office and when asked where he got it, he said it was from Playboy.
The following allegations were made during Heggem's interview on October 9 of XY.
Allegation 16: At the September 25, 2007 public health staff meeting, Mr. Petersen called a staff member "honey."
Allegation 17: Mr. Petersen has been overly complimentary of X and once stated, "I'm not just blowing hot air up yourI'm not just blowing hot air."
On October 9, both XY and LM raised the following allegations during Heggem's interviews with them.
Allegation 18: While helping L with some wording on a document, Mr. Petersen placed his hands on L's shoulders. He later said that she "owed him."
Allegation 19: During the September 19, 2007 department head meeting, Mr. Petersen's comments and actions were defensive, suggestive, aggressive and controlling.
In the case of each allegation, Heggem stated that he found the allegation/situation substantiated that Petersen made the comments. He also reported that for the most part he found the complainants recount of the incidents credible and believable.
He also stated in the findings of nearly every allegation: "I find it believable that Mr. Petersen sometimes says things in jest that others may think is odd or hard to understand, because he made such a comment to me when he walked in to our interview."
I phoned Petersen on January 13. He said he believes that much of the allegations resulted from his attempts to cut budgets and to keep the hiring of new employees in check.
Petersen has filed a complaint about his termination with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and with the Minnesota Department of Veteran's Affairs. He has received a letter from the Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs and will have a hearing on March 6. He said he has not heard anything from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights as of this writing.
According to Todd County Human Resources Director Karla Nalezny, the county has not seen anything of the complaints filed yet.
She said that Petersen does not qualify for the Minnesota Veterans' Preference Act because he was a department head. According to Nalezny department heads do not qualify for Veterans' Preference.
Petersen served in the Army from 1967 to 1970.
In a phone interview with Commissioner Randy Neumann on Monday, January 14, Neumann said that he had voted against terminating Petersen because, "I am not a judge nor the jury. If the situation was going on, then the rest of the board should have known about it so that the five of us could have dealt with it. We all kept telling Mike he was doing a good job."
From Minnesota Statute 375.18 which describes the county administrator's duties: "The county administrator shall be the administrative head of the county and shall be responsible for the proper administration of the affairs of the county placed in the administrator's charge. The administrator shall exercise general supervision over all county institutions and agencies and, with the approval of the county board, coordinate the various activities of the county and unify the management of its affairs. If required by the county board, the administrator may act as the head of any department, the appointment of which is made by the county board, provided the administrator has the qualifications required by law."
Neumann said they gave Petersen direction and then did not back him up when they fired him.