Claims of sexism, racism unsubstantiated by investigation into Richmond city manager
An investigation into a Richmond city employee that city officials initially would not identify has come to a close, according to documents obtained by the Herald-Leader.
On May 28, claims that sparked an investigation against City Manager Rob Minerich were found to be unsubstantiated after more than three months worth of tight-lipped investigations, according to the report’s findings.
The internal investigation against Minerich was launched March 7 after Commissioner Tammy Cole received an anonymous email from someone who claimed to be a city employee. The sender accused Minerich of making disparaging remarks towards women, sexual harassment, racist comments and creating a toxic work environment for some employees at city hall.
The five-member board of commissioners unanimously voted to hire Pewee Valley law firm Vaughn Petitt Legal Group. Carol Petitt was the head counsel leading the investigation.
The commissioners are Cole, Mendi Goble, Jim Newby, Mike Brewer and Mayor Robert Blythe.
The three-page email was sent with the subject line “The Truth About Rob Minerich,” and obtained by the Herald-Leader through the Kentucky Open Records Act.
The anonymous sender alleged Minerich to have made inappropriate comments toward women employees, making reference of their weight, calling them lazy and saying that women in the workplace create “nothing but drama,” according to the email.
“While he has a tendency to degrade & cross the boundaries of those who work beneath him, Mr. Minerich has a more mean-spirited, toxic attitude towards those in positions above him,” the anonymous employee wrote. “He gossips to employees and makes harsh, character-damaging comments about city commissioners.”
What the investigation found
What was revealed between the lines of the findings was a toxic and divisive workplace culture fostered on opposing sides — the city manager and commissioners.
Petitt investigated the claims based on 50 randomized and anonymous interviews with current and previous employees. The city was unaware of individuals’ identities.
In the report findings, 41% of city employees interviewed agreed the environment at city hall was negative, “starting from the top” — but not entirely at the hands of Minerich.
“Many witnesses agree that things at City Hall are tense, and that people are afraid to socialize,” Petitt wrote in her findings. “However, not all witnesses agree that this is directly attributable to Rob Minerich. Rather, the general ‘gossipy’ environment at City Hall is a common factor.”
The writer of the anonymous email said many employees felt that if they spoke out, they feared retaliation from coming forward. Of 43 employees who directly addressed the claims, 19% agreed it to be true.
But Petitt wrote, based on her investigation, she could not substantiate any findings against Minerich.
“Based on my investigation I am unable to determine that the vague allegations of retaliation against Rob Minerich as made in the anonymous complaint are supported by substantial evidence,” according to the report’s findings.
How long has Minerich been with the city?
Minerich was appointed as the city’s manager in 2018.
In this position, Minerich is the chief administrative officer and reports to the commissioners. Responsibilities of the position are carrying out the daily operations of the city and supervising 19 department heads and around 250 employees.
His term with the city is indefinite. Minerich’s base annual salary of $125,000 is within the 25% to 50% range of the Kentucky League of Cities’ Annual Wage and Salary Survey for cities with a population of 20,000 to 99,000.
At the time his contract with the city was renewed by the previous commission in 2020, Minerich was making $104,811. His contract was most recently renewed unanimously by the commission in June 2022, according to city meeting minutes.
During his tenure, he has had a large focus on growing the city’s industrial development, recreational parks acreage and distribution of American Rescue Plan Act funds during COVID-19.
Minerich said it was unfortunate the city employees had to go through the investigation and added the claims have no merit based on the fact it was an anonymous email sent to the private email address of Commissioner Cole.
“Third party legal council did an extensive three month investigation and found no substantial evidence of the allegations,” Minerich told the Herald-Leader Monday. “Team Richmond will now put this behind us and move forward doing what we do best; serving the citizens of our community.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
This story was originally published June 3, 2024 at 6:02 PM.
