T

Nove,mbec 23,2016

Fdwin A. Keller, Esq.

GrcgoryJ. Kamer, Esq.
Krrer, Zvcker & Abbott
300 W. Charleston Blvd.
Suite 3

las Vegas, ].{V 89102

Re: City of Reno

JAMS Ref. #: l,26A0A4021

Oentlernsn:

Attached please find the Report of Investigation regarding allegations made against the Reno
City Manager. Along with the report I arn forwarding an Appe,ndix of exlnbits refereirced in the
Rcport.
There are certain doqrments that ae not contained within the Appendix tbat were still considered
in prqlring the Report. I received a number of documnts from John Gallagber, Esq.n counsel
for ltdr.
text message histories betwen Clinger and
nd
Some of those text mesages have bee,n
becn
to the Bates-nunbered pages, but I have not
inoludcd the message histories in the Appendix, based on Mr. Gallagher's request that I protect
privacy concems. I would ffsume the documents are available to be acquired orn Mr.

Gallagher.
Other than those documents, I have not taken steps to redact information from the Report, or
from the documents in the Apprdix. I have left the decisions about redactions in your capable
hands.

Thank you for this mosl interesting assignmcnt. Please let me know if I can provide any further
inf,ormation, or if you find iteins in the Report tlnt require correction. I have endeavored to
avoid errors in the Report.

Respectfull

w rd

Hon. David T. Wall, (Rst.)

JA"t\dS

r(,o
oNrupryNrrAl,,a[vEsIrcAT.roN REponT
NOYEMBnR 21,2016

I.

Int{oducdon

On or about August 23,2016, the JAMS las Vegas office was contacted by speeial counsel for the
City of Re,no, Edwin A. Keller, Esq., of the law firm of Kmer Zueker Abbotf regarding the need for a
neuhal thid party investigator to conduct fact finding into allegations of misconduct against Reno's City
Manager.

On August 29, 2016, M. Keller notified JAMS that he had initiated the pmcess of having the
undersigned appointed as the third party investigator charge.d with conducting faet finding into allegations
made by three City of Reno employees of ernpioyment dissrimination, harassment and/or retaliation. I was

furtlrer charged with preparing the instant Report of my ndings, including credibiliry assessments for
review and considsration by the Reno City Council. On August 3A, 2016, the undersigned accepted the
appointment. On the same datg Mr. Keller advised JAMS that the matter of my appoinnent would be
considered at a special meeting of the Reno C Council on Septnb ur 6, 206. On September 1 , 2016,
Mr. Keller in an email proposed the following language regarding the scope of services to be provided by
the investigator:

Neutrl fact findlng s &lrd party lnvestigator concerntng allegations of alleged misconduct
by the City Manager and related nllegatione of retaliatory actions, inclusive of any allegations
not addressed in the inltial investigator's report rnd those warranting further facfual inquiry
based on exercise of independent professional Judgurent. Udllzation of frct-finding
techniques, euch as wihess interviews, examination of documentsn and the reviedinspection
of other forms of informadon and tngble items, Preparation of written report detalllng
fctual findings and any credibility tssesmen for submision to the Reo City Council.
In coqjunction with the foregoing in conversations with Mr. Keller and Gregory J. Kamer, Esq.,
also of KamEr Zackrx Abbott, I was specifically inshucted to limit my Report to faotual frndin ad NOT
to apply the provisions of either Cify of Reno Polisis or applicable Nevada (or federal) law to the facts to
reach legal conclusions. Further, I was given the iatitude to "go where the facts lead you."

II.

Eackeround.of Invstieaflon

The investigation stems from verbal complaints rnade to the City of Reno Huma Resources
Deparnent by the following City of Rmo ernployees ftereinaffer collectively referred to a. "the
complanantsn'):
c
o

made June 29,2016')

complaint made July l, 2016)

complaint made July 1,2016\

&

Following these cornplaints, an investigafon was conducted by Reno atmey Alice CarnposMercado, Esq., ftereina.fter "Mercado-), culminating in a report dated July 21,2016. Affer correspondence
and converstions with counsel for the three above-reference claimants, the Cify Attomey und the Cify
Council determined that another investigation should be conducted. Reno aftomey Bonnie Drinkwater,
Esq., was originally chosen to conduct the second investigation. At some point thereafter, it was
detemined that the undersigned would be appointed to cond.uct the instant investigation.

Dtring this investigation, the following individuals were contacted and/or interviewed (listed
alphabetically):

David Bobzien, Councilman, Cityof Reno

Council
Clinger,
Oscar

ofReno

Naomi

ofReno

John Gallagher, attorney for Andrew Clinger

Karl Hail, City Attorne City of Reno
Neoma Jardon, Councilwoman, City of Reno
Kelly Leerman, City of Reno Human Resources Director, City of Reno
Mark Mausert, Esq., attomey far claimants
Paul fu{cKenzie, Councilman, Cify of Reno

ofReno
Anthon

Vice President of

absent &om the

Olive Grove

list re the three complainants,

attempts were made to intsrview

success.

of emails to Human Resorces Director Kelly

Leerman in September frorn

uod-indicating
their rvillingness to be
interviewed, subject to tle
attorney. I have had numerous conversations with their
previous attorney, Mr. Peterson, and their current attomey, Mr. Mausert, regarding this issuc. I am aware
that negotiations were undertaken befween Mr'. Mausert and special counsel for the City (and the City
,{ttorney) regarding the potential lfure use of infCIrmation obtained from the intervie\{s, as i was copied on
correspondence regarding that issue. I have not injected myself into those negotiations and take no position
as to the validity of aly position taken therein. Ultimately no compromise was reached such that the
complainants' counsel would allow the interviews to go forward. I would note that the tlxee complainants
were intervier.ved by the prior investigator, Ms. Merdo, who summarized those interi'iews in her Report
of July 21,2016.
2

The irability to speak

made the compietion of
the instant investigation far more challenging. Access to the complainants would have allowed nae to ask
cogent questions regarding their clairns, tc fi.rther attempt to seek corroboration thereo{ to request access
to certain documents and personal infonnation they possess and to take normal investigatory steps to
deferrrine facts and assess credibility. Credibiiity assessment is normaliy conducted in one-on-one
interviews or otherwise deterrnined in the existence or non-existence of corroborative evidence.
Additionally, in interviews the claimants would have had the opportunity to support their versions of
events- It is therefore a fair criticism of this Report to aliege that it was completewithout having spoken
rvith the very complainrts who necessitated it in the first place.

In lieu of such interviews, I have examined the foliowing just to rlly identift the alations made
bythe complainants:

a
e
e
e
e

Notes of Human Resources Director Kelly Lerman, who took the verbal complaints
(Appendix, Exhibit 1);
Summary of interviews conducted by Alice Campos-Mercadoo Esq. as contained in her

Report;
Correspondence from William E. Peterson, Esq., counsel for complainants, to City Attorney
Karl Hall, Esq., dated July 20, 2016, July 2z,2a16"July 26, z0l6,Juiy 2g, ztl6,and .{ugust
l, 2016, with attachmeots, which outline the nature of the ccmplaints (See 7/26/le letter
with attachmelrts, Appendix, Exhibii 2);

Correspondence om Tfilliam E. Petrsn, Esq., counsel for complainants, to Bonnie

Drinkwater, Esq., dated July 28, 2A16, which cites to information Ms. rinkwater shouid
have fo conduct te investigation.
CorresPondence from Mark Mausert, Esq., to Edwin Keller, Esq., Speciai Counsei to the
City of Reno, on August 30, 2016, Sepfember 22, 2t76, September 28, 2A16 (described
therein as 'oa outline of the sexual harassment, retaliation and hostile work environment
problems caused by fomrer City Manager Clinger with assistance of others," but wifh
caution that it "does not constitute a comprehensive list'), Septeurber 29,2t16, October 10,
2016 utd October 71,2A16,

In addition, I have had the following conversations with counsel for the complainants to help
identify their allegations (not an exhaustive list):

o
u

Telephone conference with William E. Peterson, Esq.o counsel for complainants, on or about
September 18,2016;

Telephone conferences with Mark Mausert, Esq., counsel for complainants, on or about
Se,ptember 78,2t16, Septnber 21,20L6 and October 16,2.6i

It must be noted that rvith respect to the summary of interviews of the complainants as conducted by
Ms. Mercado, I rlly appreciate that they are not valid substtutes for interviews I tnight have conducted.
However, I intervicwed as many as seven othe individuals who were also interviewed by Ms. Mercado.
On many occsions, i asked interviewees whether they had in fact told Ms. Mercado certin things that
were contained in her Report, In virtually every instance, the interviewerelatedthat they had in facigiven
Ms. Mercado that exact information. It is with that underlying confidence that I ionsided c"ttrin
information given by the complainnts to Ms. Mercado as reflected in her Report.

Therefore, based on the foregoing I believe

and investgate the clams of the complainants.

I have sufficient information uith which

hr addition to the materials listed above, among the many documents

course of the investigation are the following (not an exhaustive list):
&

s
@

*
o

to understand

I have reviewed during the

Confidential Report of Investigation dated luly 21,2tI6, by Alice Campos-Mereado, Esq.

(Appendix, Exhibit 3);
Interview Notes and Harassment Interview Outline from the investigation file of Ms.
Mercado (Appendix, Exhibit 4);
City of Reno Equal Employment Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy 603 and City
of Reno Prohibited Discrimination, Harasnncnt and Retaliation Policy 607 (Appendix,
Exhibft 5);
20L6 City Manager Performance Review, ernployee srrvey rsults (^A.ppendix, Exhibit 6);
City Manager Annual Performance Evaluation form, completed by Councilwomaa Jenny
Brekhus (Appendix, Exhibit
Notes from files cf
(Appendix, Exhibit 8);
Human Resource Dirctor Kelly Leerman's notes of a conversation

20t6

Exhibit

i0);

Emals regarding the investigation from the les of Kelly Leerman, Hunar Resources
Director;
Human R.esaurces Deparhnent memo &om Keily Leennan dated ,A.ugust 29,2A16, Subjeet:
Rcoord of Interactions with Claimants
Exhibit l1

Exhibit 12i;
6

I,O

of

Card use &om Jul 27-3

ztt6

Exhibir

13

Exhibit 14

Text conversation history befween Andew Clinger and

2At 5 to August 7,2t16, Bates numbeled CLI-00208 to CLI-0450;

October i2,

are

texts, or strings of texts, if relevant, are referenced herein. ,4.11 of the text compilations
were received from the office of John Gallagher, Esq., counsel for Andrsw Clinger, who requestod that I be
sensitive to such privacy concen before releasing the compilations in their entirety, I have referffced
Bates numbers for the compilations I reviewed- It appears that the texts were taken from Clinger's rnobile
phone and compiled using a computer application called TouchCopy.
4

Tsxt conversation history between Andrew clinger *dlfrorn

octob rz,
2015 to August 4,2tl6,Bates nurnbered CLI-00451 to CLf-00-SlS-';
Text rnessage &om Mayor Hiilary Schieve to Andrew Clinger dated June 20, 216, Eates
numbered CLI-00519 (Appendix, Exhibir l6);
"Staternent &om ,ndrew Clinger Regarding Alleged Sexual Harassment" dated July 30,
2016, for release to press, Bates ninbered CLI-00520;

"Statesrent by Andrew Clinger" dated September 8, 216, for release to press, Bates
numbered CLI-0521;

Copies

of

newspaper articles covering accusafions

of

sexual harassment against City

Manager; Bates numbered CLI-0A522 to CLI-00565;

&

C of Reno Governance Project Report by live Grove Consulting,

July 2016, Bates

numbered CLI-00566 to CLI-00591 (Appendix, Exhibit 17);

Copy of a litigation hold letter hand-delivered by Cify Attomey Karl Hall, Esq., to Andew
Clinger on or about July 25, 2CI16
Exhibit 1
and
text
messages
&om
files
the
_Emails
exhiuit t g);

Ippendix,

Separation ",A.greement betweeri Andrew Clinger and Cify of Reno dated Septernber 14, 2016
(.Appendix, Exhibit 20);

IIl. 4'R.tn.* EcEg{sua4

Througout this Report, certain individuals and iandmark dates are refened to re,peatedly. It is
necessary at the outset, to give ccntext to certain information, to provide background for tle individuals
and events mentioned herein.

A. irdividuals
As of 2076, Reno was governed by a City Council of seven, which includes the Mayor. Mayor
Hillary Schieve has served in that capacity since 2014. Othe current Councii members include David
Bobzien, Je'nny Brekhus, Oscar Delgado, Naomi Duerr, Neoma Jardon and Paul McKenzie.
.Andrew Clinger served as the City Manager for tb.e City of Reno since 201 1, before any member of
the current City Councit had begun serving. The City Manager reports to the C Council. In 2016, the
two Assistant City Managers wers Kate Thomas and Bill Thomas (not relatedi, both reporting to Ciinger.

Karl HaIl is the City Attorney for the City of Reno, elected to theposition in 2014.
KellyLeerman

Human Resourses Direotar

Antlony Tansimore does not work for the City of Reno, but is Vice President of Leadersbip Impact

for a consulting company called Olive Grovg whieh was retained by the City of Reno to perfurm
consulting services for the City Council and the City Manager (and his staff).

B.

Miles_tane ates

Certain dates are referred to by many of the interviewees, and are cenhal to an understanding of the
sequenco ofevents:
@

2011 ^- Andrew Clinger becomes Reno City Manager

2012 - Hillary Schievq Jenny Brekhw, Neoma Jordan and Oscar Delgado are elected to the Reno
CifyCouncil

2014 *Naomi Duerr and Paul McKenzie are elected to the Reno Cify Council and Hillary Schieve
vins election to become Mayor of Reno. David Bobzien is appointed to the Council to fill the
vacancy created with Schieve's ascnsion to Mayor

&

6/21/16 - A Special City Council Meeting is conducted for the annual Performance Evluation of
City Manager Ardrew Clinger; each of the Council members made public remarks regarding
Clinger's perfonnance as City Manager, including Councilwoman Naomi Duerr, who commented
on "a sense of fear" arnong female marragers in the City's employ; ultimately, the meeting
concludes with a unanimous vote to renev Clinger's contract for two years, with a 3% raise

6l22/16_AMeotingcalledbyMayorSchievetoincludefstaffforthepurposeof
educating City employees on the City's Sexual Harassment and Retaliation policies

.
o

6/29n6

7/r/16 a verbal sexual harassment, retaliation and hostile wok

environment complaint agaimt Clingerto Human Resources

Irnakes

o
t
C

a ve,rtal sexual harassment, retaliation and hostile work environmsrit

to Human Resources

Later the sa"me

hostile work

7/3116
complaint

7/21/16

a verbal sexual harassmenl, retaliation and

Clinger to Human Resources
a verbal

to Hunt Resources

t,o

coroborte a portion of the

The Investigation Report of Alice Carnpos-Mercdo, Esq. is forwarded to Human

Resources and the CityAttomey

a

7t29/16 .*

the theft of certain case-related docurnents

offce

fromlcitr

9114/16 -.A.ndrew Clinger signs a Separation Agreement with the City

C. City Policies

-*pos

At all material times lrerein, the City of Reno had in place two policies

investigation.

pertinent to this

Management Policy 03, "Equal Emplo'ment Opporfunity and Non-Discrimination," generally

all employrnant related decisions are based on individual qualifications and merit, without
regard to racg cred" colr, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, agg disability, potitical
affiliation, merabership in an employee association, or any other protected-class sttus under the law."
(Appendix, Exhibit 5)
ensures that

Management Policy 607, *Prohibited Discrimination" Harassment and Retaliation Poliey," generally
recognizes every enployee's right to work in an environment promoting equl employment opporfturities
free of harassmenl discrimination or retaliation, The policy goes on o broadly define and provide
examples of direct and indirect sexual harassment in the worlace. Further, the policy provides tht the
Hunan Resources office and the C Attomey share responsibilities for investigating sexual harassment

complaints and desctibes the procedure for such an investigation. A investigation may be initiated on
eitler an employee's written or verbal cornplaint to Human Resources. Notably Policy 60? provides that,
"Condentiality will be maintained throughout the interview process to te extent sonsistent rrith
conducting an investigation and determining appropriate corrective action." (Appendix, Exhibit 5)

IV. I[e Complsint

A.

On June 29,2A16,

Director Kelly Leerman

s notes

a verbal complaint to Human R.esouces

of the meeting indicate the following:

wre unawafe
each other in a sexual tryy."
@

presence.

Furtha',Jomplained

more generally thatClinger malces her uncomfortable by stopping at her

workstation. Althougb he does not make overtly inappropriate comments, she feels he is gauging
her approval of him and her potential interest in him.

fr;;

complained that

has been seen to enter Clingero s office and close the door
unaware of any legitimate business reasn
the CilyManagor on such occasions.

Leerman that she is

to be seeing

upset
her anger out on
that Clinger cretes such conflicts and does nothing to
resolve them,
s ineffectiveness is shorvn by the fact fat he has
allowed unqualified individuals (like
to "sleep their way into the job they're in."
sees this as evidence of Clinger's lack ofjudgment and professionalism.

2t16,f**

on July 12,
interviewed by Alice Campos-Mercado as part of the initial
investigation of these complainfs (Appendix, Exhibit 3). Mercado's report reflects the following additional
facts oltained duringher interview

off

Regarding the May, 2015 incident

occur between Clinger and

't achially see anything

heard the rustling

that led her ta believe

they were groping one another. She couidn't make out any conversation between the two, but
heard what she described as moans and giggling "like of pleasure," which she consbued as the two
of them 'omutually respon4lng_to pleasure." She indicated that this was the only such instance of
any behavior betrveenf *d ciinger that she witnessed.
g

She indicated that she had not reported this incident for over a
of the Mayor s meeng on

v"*- moved

She was
to reportfre
harassment and afler speaking with

Regarding Clinger's general behavior, she described him as "smarmy" and "flirtatious" and of "no
substace." She could not say that he had ever said anything sexually inappropriate to her or
touched her inappropriately at any time.

Further,lt"rA Mercado that she has no knowledge of anyone who "slept their way to the top"
in City g-tot-"nt. $he has heard rumors of a romantic relationship u"trp""nlun tine;t

but has no evidence thereof, other than what she beleves she heard in May of2015.

the relationship befween Clinger and

makes the

more casual than professional, and

is the result of the
stress to

tension is rooted in the conduct of Clingeros rurprofessional relationship with

latso

told Mercado that while she has seen the

Clinger's
office, she lras no facts to support her suspicion of any improper relations betwenthe two

Wheir asked what she hoped to see from the initit investigation,Iiodi*ted that she wanted to
see the truth reveaied, and that thee might be consqgggges for the "dysfunctioning dynamic"
affecting the wollace. She also wanted Clinger *df
held accountable for noidcing their
jobs.

In correspondence dated uly 26,20l6,Ettorney William Pterson, Esq., wrote to City

Attonrey Karl Hall regarding the allegations that had been made (Appendix, Exhibit 2). Attached to that
letter was an Exhibit A, deg@!-r Peterson as a report authored-byldescribing acts and conduct
perpetrated by Clinger *dlsome
of which were alleged. to iav een retaliatry in nature once
made a comptain@FCfinger. sorne of the aditional allegations contained in Exhibit A
lrad
include the followino'
the effect that
that

had on te office

personal relationshp with

* I_complained about the manner in which the investigation rvas handled by Cty officials,

including the fact that City,A.ttomey Karl Hall failed to protect the confidentiality of hr claim by
apgrising Clinger of the nature of the complainllas well as the fact that
been the one to
E
fiIe i. She believes that Clinger told others offiOentity as the complant, which made the
workplace even more unccmfortabl" fotl

complained that she believes the Cify policies require that the City Council and the
" ffurther
Mayor should have

been infonned of the complaint, since they ultimately retain supervisory

authority over the City Manager. She believes the City palicies have been implemurted in
mamer more favorable toward Clinger.

n frecnnmended

that
witness" in the investigation.

be interviewed as a "critical

B
On Julv

l*aa"

L,2tl6,

verbal complaint fo Human Resources Director Kelly Leerman (,A,ppendix, Exhibit

Leerman's notes of the rneeting indicate the following:
u

1).

involved in a
cne another and based on
the fact that many other co-workers have asked her about whether the two are involved in an
affair.

that clinger makes organizational workload decisions based on personai

Ibeiieves
relationships and not competency or qualifications. She believes there's no accountabitity for
ml stal(es.
Iv/orr-rerared

She referenced the

especiaily

have interaction with Clinger.

"disappear" for periods of time-

spent too much time

there's no business
She also reports that on occasion, Clinger and

related that

asked

&

to help her deal with Clinger.

romantic or sexual

Ib1dLeermanthatshebelievedCIinger'sincompetencearrd1ackofleadershipcreated
a hostile, ineffective and comrpt work environment. Further, she believed Clinger made
"scapegoaf ' for af of the inappropriateness.
Ithe

On July 8,2016,E"as
interviewed by Alice Cnmpos-Mercado a.s part of the initial
investigation of these complaints (Appg!4.Exhi43). Mercado's reporl reflects the following additionai
facts obtained dwing

"r

theinterviewoftold Mercado

2015 bstween

to her the incident she witnessed in

report it to Human

enc,ouragedlto

Resowces.
6

10

. Itoid

Mercado that Ctinger did nof treat people differently based on gender. She
decried the lack ofArofessionalism and effectiveness in the ofce, and the fact ttrat certain
on favortism rather rhan comperence. she

m:$tG"r,J:i"based
. Iconceded

to Mercado that she has no personal knowledge to establish the existearce

cf a romantic relationship between Clinger *dI

In an email dated July 2a,zarc,|f,outlined for Leerma instances of ongoing conduct that
constituted'hostitifiund-reta]a,tio!-li4ppendix, Exhibit 3, attached as an exhibit to
Ibefieved
of
Report
Investigation). In that email,frehted the following:
"This email documents what I have been experiencing in the wake of notifung yow ofce
of my worlace environment conditions:
-Mercadok

1.

The office atmosphere

has become
unbearably hostile and tense. I am being oshaeized and avoidcd.
isolation is so unpleasant that
I am developing headaches, have difficu sieeping, ard am havng a hard time doing my work. I
no longer feel comfortable coming in on weekends or staying late at night - which I formerly did
regularly and is necessary because of my heavy workload.

not

3. I learned

last

that there are discussions underw

one has spoken to m directly. Another staff person who had bee
me in - sort of as a heads up.

4. Additional staffmembers from

several departrnents have also told me

has
me to them,
that I am
undeseried and
treatment.
frequently fratsndzes
office daily) and I know that these are opinions that
I have overheard some
conversations,
ben

I feel strongly that had the cify's investigative process been conducted confidentially,
city policy requires, I would not be experiencing these conditions."
In correspondence dated September 28, 2t16,
Mr. Keller of Kamer Zucker Abbott and elaborated on
Some of the additional allegations include the following:

as the

, Mark Mausert, Esq., wrote to

of a hostile work environment.

l1

as evidence

of

nd also alleges that

referred to

fuehalf

descrio*uf

hdauserr, oo
ire toward
denigrating remarks and open hostility as wellas a refusal to speak

Mausert also describes the

November' 18, 2A16,

me on her letter of resignation from the City"
si.ted to hostlify within City ofces
tbe main reason for her "constructive
discharge." She also cited to the fact that she has been'oexcluded &om the secoad investigation" as a result
of the City not agreeing to certain tetms as conditions for her participation.

C.

OnJ

20r6
Resources Director

Exhibit 1). Leerman's notes indicate the following:

Intst

concem communicated to Leerman was that she

become a victim

of

retaliation

of this

angered

so she fears retaliation.

s

says one reason she feared retaliation is that Clinger feats her badly already. She
believes he uses power over women to "keep them down."

described a

at the statonent, at which point

and humiliated, got

offthe elevator.

- Irelated

that Ctinger had made romantic advances on her, and that she had
specifically told hirn she was not interested in a relationship.

She related that in March

of 2016, Clinger had asked

to download al application designed to llow for
a grorrp
would not later be faceable or recoverable, and therefore not
toa
request. Eaid
even'yone downloaded it, but that she

records

not
12

tbund a new and similar application, called "Telogram," but only

download it, along with Clinger. It allowed for texts to
be cofllmulu
between those individuals, but had a speoial feature that made the texts
afier being reviewed. Since Clinger
she acquiesced and downloaded the app. She then begaa to get "flirty and
inappropriate" texts from Clinger using that app. She said she felt compelled to
use
asked

:ri,i:1,i;mry-,Jff iffi iii*",##"#,.ry**i",f,'*:

deleted it, she told Clinger that she was martied and didnT want
him make anymore advances on her.

an inciderrt in

participate in texts or have

of 201 at the Coffee Bar,

Itti"

not to sit next to

on
this occasion he patted an ernpty seat next to him and urged her to sit there. Feeling awkward
with the situation, she complied. While seated there, Clinger'ut his hand on my thigh and
rubbed his hand up and down
several
much i
than it would take to frel the
fabric." She indicated

I^ritnessedthis

on a subsequent occasion at the Coffee ear,Iain

kied not to sit next to Clingvr,
but again he patted the chair next to him and nsisted she sit next to him. A.gain, she
acquiesced.

In June of 2016, Clinger received the results of the

survey in advance of
his annual performance evaluatian. He
they felt abcut
his performffrce as Cify Manager, and seemed depressed by some of thc responses to the
survey.

After e City Council meeting on June 21,2t16, when Clinger's contract with the City was
renewed for two additional years, Clinger had a meeting *ithlwith
no one else
present. He told her, "I will be here two more years and I will find out who is bad-mouthing
me to Council d I will take care of it."

Iindicated
Council members.

that only rnale

said Clinger

S he

forbidden female

are allowed to talk directly to

talking to

Council,

On July |L,2016,
investigation of these
facts obtained during the interview
I

came to her

was intrviewed by Alice Campos-Mercado as part of the initial

Exhibit 3). Mercado's report reflects the following additional

with Mercado primarily prepared to discuss the etaliation

Regarding the ineident in the elevator

Clinger,
slrL'u
view
not
this
in
a
sexual
mrnr. Rather, she felt
Is*ru
not respected by Clinger in front of
She told Mercado that Clinger is "a
caring n1a," and he o'genuinely cares" about his employees. Later in the interview with

13

Mercado

him."
6

,Iindicated.

that Clinger doesn't care about her, and that "if's all about

Regardingthetextingapp..Telegram,''faddedthatwhenClirrgeraskedhertosend
a photo of hersel{ he did not indicate that it should be ude or sexual in nature. She could not
identify what was in the sexually inappropriate texts he
texts were uncomfortable for her when she received them

i}

her and

his

t"g,I

Regarding the rneeting qt-the_gfFe ar when she alleges clinger rubbed rro
indicatedihat sh
she told about the incident, not to tportlt
prefened to handle the situation on her own.

utkIwho

as;h-;

I*ld

describd the relationship between Clinger and

extremely
personal, but indicated that she doesn't know if there is (or has been) a sexual relationship
betwesn them, She reiated that at tines they looked af each ot.her like fhey're "in love," and at
other times they fight "like when parents aren't getting along."

Mercado that Clinger looks at her in way that makes her feel uncornfortable
and that he once told her that her skirt was "distracting." She offers that men lnve heated her
disrespectlrlly before, a:rd that she feels responsible for Clinger's behavior.

the

not

While
sriticized fhe manner
Mercado that the decorum and

r/as

in which Clinger

she also told

at the Cify

s1nce

When asked by Mercado about

knows of no facts to support a contention
ey unproper
she observed that no such

ffi ;::r:lffiof Jri,"'""tr*"iffi*''#ff

:'':tH#'i:i"",;
work
clarity of directioa and a shift to
acknowledgernent
following processes,

performance,

indicted that she

existed befween
existed. She noted that

values and

interview,Isent

On July 12,2a16, the day after her

a follow-up emaii to Mercada
(Appendix, Exhibit 3, attached as exhibt to Mercado's Investigation Report). In that
tells Mercado:
'oI never intended

to be a

of the sexual harassment

but rather was looking

and legal allegations I brought

l4

forward to a few of the highest pawers in our organzatioa (City Manager, Chief of Police and City
Attorney).

It is my under:standing that the original sexual harassment complaint was filed by someone
else and now your limited scope and my ancillary stories of potential retaliation and hostile work
environment concsns has landed me a prirnary spot in a sexual harassment investigation, which
was never my intent."

In

to

the

state that she

is most disappointed in the City Manager's

She also directed Mercado's attention to a

On July20J0_l_,Mercado conducted a telephonic follow-up interview with

She asked
rruuul !"'i'rjtil.arJ
scn. suggesi:ve E-qxE:- r
responded that she had
participated in one msssage. 'lVhen asked who initiated it,
indicated that she felt the
need to send the text because Clinger was so unresponsive.
asked to continue the
conversation with Mercado only if some else was preseirt. No other questioning took place. The text
messages, as referenced by Mercado aid attached to her report, include the following exchange during
January of 2A16, while Clinger was on abusiness trip in Washington, D.C.:
[January 2A,9:23 p.m.]

Are u asleep?

AC: Not yet

I
AC:

fust saying

hil Mssing youruglymug!

Haha sure you do.

Party time since I"m not there
lv1ean

it!

Right now mssing u. Party has to be with u.

On my way

Get me a roon?
Room?

AC: Lol I'll bookit

U***-....Sounds possible. Work

the conference? How to sleep in

AC: Not

sure you'd learn much from the conference

nrer"

AC: I'll

frorn plane and. surprise visit. What would I learn from

aroll awaybed?

are things you would teachme. I need a coach.

be your coach

i5

am imagining

it now. I could leam from u.

(Appendix, Exhibir 3)
In correspondence dated Juiy ?.6,2016,
attonrey lVilliam Peterson, Esq., wrote to
City Attorney Karl Hall regarding the allegations that had
made (Appendix, Exhibit 2). Regarding
r-XI Xcr:iag"a ,r*rrrr"*
Clinger, Peterson wrote:

I*O

has admitted that she initially participated in a ftirtatious exchange

communicat*d by the Cify Manager, as manifested by the obvious success
participafion in a flirtatious relationship with the City Manager is a condition to
success under his adminishation, if you are female."
because

of

In correspondence dated october 10, 20r6,Iafiorney,

Mark Mausert,
City Attorney Hatl regarding the allegations made by Tffi. Regarding conduct by

wrofe to
1n

response to Clinger's alleged dvanceso Mausert wrote:

is a very bright woman and saw that the only way to ftnction well, and be

to stay in Clinger's good graces. And, the best way to do that was to respond to his
predatory advances in a way rvhich did not alienate him- It is the ciassic conundrum faced by a
safe, was

woman who is conftonted with sexual predation.,'

On or about July 29,2t16,

tha.t a mnnila envelope with a
related to her complaint again.q Clfuger was opened, rd the materials stolen, from her
credenza. Only the empty e,nvelope rernained.

of materials

-'"ported
V. [nves{atoqy luterview
Dwing the couse af this investigator interviews were conciucted with a numbsr of individuals
iI, above) either in person or telephonically. The interviews were not recorded.

(see Section

At

the beginrdng of each interview, I told the interviewee that I had ber engaged by the City of
Reno as a neutral fact finder. The neuhality was based on the facttbatl was not a Reno resident and knew
none of te individuals involved in the case. A,s a fact finder, I was tasked with determining relevant facts

surrounding the complaints made against the City Mrager.

latitude to make credibility determinations.

I told interviewees that I was given the

For each inerson interview, the interviewee was glven a one-page form entitled "Introductory
gmyents and Requests." (Appendix, Exhibit 21). Edwin Keller, Esq., of Kamer Zucker Abbott, provided
tlris form to me, attached to an email dated September 21,2016. It includes a Limited Confidential
Request a statement regarding the prohibition of any retaliatory conduct and a final section with the
heading, oT'Ic Guarantee of Complete Confidentiality."
For telephonic interviews, i either gave
of the contents of the form or read it verbatim to
^recitation
the interviewee. All of the individuals I attempted
to interview decided to go forward with the interviews
after receiving this form.

I6

The following are summaries of the intfliews I conducted in conjuaction with this investigation.
They are not chronological. Rather, I have made every effort to present them in an order that provides at
least some context to the issues presented.

4..

A"ndrew Clinger (interviewed September 27,2Q16)

On September 27,2016,I met with Andrew Clinger at the office of his attorney, John Gallagher,
Esq. I explained to Cnger the purpose of my interview and shared with hm the Introductory Comments
and R.equests form referenced above. Clinger readily agreed to speak with me. Mr. Gallagher was also
present for the interview, but never sought to direct my questioning or suggest ans\rysrs to my questions. I
was allowed firll access to interview Clinger, and the only time Mr- Gallagher intedected was in response to
a question that may have implicated Clinger's attorney-client privilege.
Clinger told me that he became City Manager for thc City of Reno in 2011 affer serving for six
years as Nevada's State Budget Director. Prior to that, he had worked in the State Budget Ofce, in other
positions, since 1997. He was first contacted for the Reno C Manager position by then City
Councilwomen Jessica Sferrazza. He saw the position as a new opporhmity to do something diffcrent and
therefore pursued it.
Clinger said he's still only partiaily ware of the nature of the claims that have been made against
He was interviewed by Alice Campos-Mercado as part of fhe first
so he has some
awareness of what has been alleged. He acknowledges that City ernployee
copy of a letter dated Juiy 26, 2A16, written by William Peterson, Esq., then attorney for the three
complainants, which not only outlines in some detail the allegations made by his clients but which aiso had
aflached to it an outline of complaints prepared bvlClinger
said that even as of the date of
our interview, he had not read any of those documents. Instead, he sad that upon receipt of the documents,
he immediately forwarded them to his attomey, Mr. Gallagher.

him.

Clinger described the atmosphere within his administration as professional and said he never heated
women differently than men in his office, He said th,at an allegation that there existed a"play along to get
along" mentality mong female employees is "completely ridicuious" and unblre. He said he never
operated that way as City Manager.

City and her

Clinger said his relationship with
or romantic relationship existed between

was 'rofessional

only." He denied that any personal

tu/o

Clinger was asked about the text rnessages &om January 20,2AL6 (quoted above in Section W(C))
between i,* IHe
indicated that these texts were n his r*$dr cell phone texting feature and
not on any other texting platform like Slack or Telegram. Regarding this text
said he
was in TVashington, D.C., on Cify business at the time when he received the texts
He was
"caught offguard" by the somewhat suggestive nafure of the texts, which Clinger construed as
Ciinger said he had
occasion after tJris,
photo
was sent using the
"semi-clothed'
text has not been preserved, since the nare of Telegram is such that texts dsappear after being read,
17

Clinger said the neither the texts received while he was in Washinglon,
were invited in anyway.

nrr

the photo text

Clinger said that any alation that he made any romantic or sexual advances on
"absolutely'o untrue. He provided me wth a printed history of all text messages befween he
from October 12, 2Q15, until July 22, 2016. He indicated that he purchased his cmrent cell phone in
October of 2015, which is why the text history only goes back that far.

that Clinger touched her leg

in mid-Mav of 2016 Clinger ge,nerally recalls the
she
have found a chair next to him
sit in if,
next to
was late for the meeting. I{e doesn't ever recall patting a seat, and demanding that

ro.Ito

him. Regarding the allegation

o'it never

said,
that he touchd her leg one or more times duriag the meeting,
e\er." He also understands that this conduct is alleged to have been witnessed by
said the allegation is unlrue.

Clinger is also aware that

has alleged that he touched her neck inappropriately in an
elevator in March of 2A. Clinger said there's "no way" he touched her neck in the manner she
He acknowledges that he told Mercado that he recalled the occasion but did not
he
reitErated that during ow interview.
Clinger said that in late July of201
potentially the victim of a thef &om
rqlort. Clingerwas unaware of what items
said he's aware that
said

was

file a police
wsre

in the allegations. He
wer rumofs rn the office about a relationship
has been implicated

acknowledged that it
Regarding his relationship with
is different than his relationship with
"an honest
with
it
romantic
relationship, ' such that he knows "she'll be real
me." He said has never been a
gs)fllal
as
but he is awme that rumors of such a relationship existed in Cify offices. As
given him inforn, aton that she'd heard tlrose rumors
Clinger "blew it off' as idle talk among employees.
he said
Since there has never been any trye of romantio
that allegation that they were o'groping" one another
absolutely
unkue. He said it's o'completely made up. It never happened."
to prove
an event nevef occurred, but he is adanrant that no romantic qglgltqqp has ever existed befween he and
I requestd Clinger's text message history witnlyrrich was provided to me from his
attorney's office about a week after ou interview.

said that

her romantic relationship with Clinger, or that the

getting or keeping that position. He also
denied that her
provided her with any preftrential treatment, although he
conceded that he considered that o'she's got my back" as a result of their honest relationship.
CIn

nIether

was

recalled

denied that he told

sincelwas

that

the charrges,
Clinger said
said he told
and
FrilrriEn

wit}
1S AWAre

lryAS

ngry

anger from eitirer.

both Clinger
's awre
Clinger said he had several meetings with
ferv months , to try and ameliarate the issues
with Cnger and
professionaJly
she had to be able to comrnunicate
with

Clinger was also aware of the effect

wlio told Clinger that
was
ciaiming to be overivorked,
'ws
directly.

lied to accommodate

the cowse of the next

He said

anger and resentment \ryas

on
had also heard rumors that

so Clinger
no such issues.

net with lto

our

ask her about it

said that he

and said

In February of 2016, Clinger introduced a new

to
staff called Slack that
Clinger had learned about frorn his brother-in-law. He said
the app
on their phones. ,A.ccording to Clinger, Slack would allow texts befween those on thc nstwork to be
"secure." He did not indicate that there had been aay prior issues with texts between City staff membsrs
not being secure. Clinger said use of the app "TtzzJed outo' in a short time, sinee Siack was apparently
cumbersome to use.
19

Shortly thereafter, in March af 2A16, Clinger found a second text platfonn called Teiegram. It was
less cumbersome to use than Slack, so Clinger
e
it before introducing it to the
entire staffl, He downloaded it and asked only
to downlcad it with him. An
irnportant feature of Telegrarn is that texts, once
and can't be recovered. Clinger said the
three of them used it for a month or mor. It was using this app that Clinger said he received a suggestive
photo o*Iwhich
of cowse can no longer be retrived. Clinger said he uuderstands oow that
using such an application while aprominent member of Cify gover:rment is inconsistent with hansparency.
He also understands that it lools even worse because of the allegations fhat were evffitully made against
him. Hebelieves that the combination of a casual worlace, a private text platform and a more casual ut
not romantic) relationship
leave him open to accusations like thc oncs that have been
made.

On June 21, 2A16, the City Council held a meeting to consider Clinger's annual perfonnance
evaluation and vote on whether to extend his contract with the City.
Prior to the meeting, City staff employees were given the opporfunity to complete ar atronymous
survey evaluating Clinger in a number of different categories (Appemdix, Exhibit 6). Clinger had seen the
results of the survey and considered them overall to be positive, although there were areas of his
performance that might be improved.
During the June 21 public meeting, each member of the Council had the opporfunity to comment
publicly on Clinger's performance over the past year, Many of the comments were positive, but some
offered areas of critique. Councilwoman Naomi Duerr commented on sensing r'frr" lmong some female
mnagers at the City when discussing Clinger's performance. Clinger said he had no idea what Duerr was
talking about and no forewarning that such a comrnent would be made. He had no information of any
female managers in fear of him. He believes he reacted visibly whon Duer made the comment, because he
recalls someone immediately texting him to keep a "poker face" as he sat on the dais during the meeting.
Clinger said there was nothing in the eurployee surveys that hinted at any fear or harassment of fernale City
rnnagers.

On fhe following day, June 22,2016, the Mayor hastily called a meeting
the City's sexual harassment policy. Clinger was in
Councilwoman Duerr, which Clinger thought was particularly odd. On the
commerfs the night before, Clinger thought that perhaps Duerr had tlked to the Mayor and
told her things that provided the impefus for the lune 22 meeting. Imrnediately foliowiag the meeting,

Clinger said the Mayor told him that Duerr 'told me things about yor"r, and
disturbing." Beyond that, e Mayor gave Clinger no specifics.
That aftenoon, Clinger met with Human Resources Director

if

Leermar!

they're true

it's

very

her if she knew

who
same

hours at

Duen's

to Duerr of Clinger's sexual

Apprroximately one week later,

made the first complaint to Human Resources.
Clinger said that City
Karl Hal
of the fst complaint including the general nature
of the complaint and
as the complainant. Hall told Clinger to "be caleful," and not to
retliate against
some
thougbt that the only complainant was
did nor
inform Clinger that
also made complaints against Clinger,

lHan

2t

On or about Julv 13. 2016. Clinger met with Alice Campos-Mercado to be interviewed as part of
Mercado asked questions about
y actionable conduct against
repeatedly told him
not made a complaint against
him. He also said that he 1eft the interview unal/are
made a complaint against him.

fcliFr-"iMercao

On or about July 20, 2076, Clinger was told by Clty,A.ttomey Hall "good and bad ne'ws." The good
news was that Mercado was going to find no violation of City policies by Cling'. The bad news was that
given the allegations made in a leter Hall received from the cornplainants' attorney, they rnight have to
rnew the process and begin a second investigation.

Clinger said he understood by August or September that he could no longr mnege in the Cty,
among ernpioyees. He believes hc was forced out ofhis position
as City Manager and had no choice but to leave. He said it was (and rmrains) his inclination to vindicate
himself with respect to the allegations made against him, but he said that if he foueht the allegations at a
public hearing, it would divide the City to n evsn greater extsnt, even if he were ultimately successfirl.

glen the allegations and the afinosphere

forced out, Clinger said he believes it's

Duen'and

an

effort" between

Clinger recalls that he hired a consulting firm called Olive Grove in the spring of 2016 to look at
communication between the Council and City staf{ including the Cify Manager. Interviews were
conducted and the chief consultant, Anthony Tansimorg told Clinger in May f 2016 that there were three
Council membsrs against Clinger because he was a Republican. Taasimore told Clinger that
Councilwoman'oDuerr is out to get you." Tansimore didn't put this information into his report but strongly
suggested cancelling aplanned rekeat with City staff and the City Council because of the animus of certain
Council mernbers toward Clinger, as uncovered by Tansimore. Clinger ended up cancelling the refreat on
Tansimore's advice.

As tc the "organized effort " Clinger said that he's awarelhat Duerr met r"itt lprior
to
the filing of her complaint and he believes Duerr encouragedlt
attegtio,lsgainst
-ut*
Clinger. Clinger said he had a lunch meeting rvith Duerr on June 28,2-016
(the day before his performance
evaluation by the Council), during which Duerr spent most of the time talking generally about sexual
harassment (without mentioning any names). Clinger believes that other Council membe may also have
spoken with the complainants befure or dwing the fist investigation period.

Clinger said

wanted him out as C Manager and wanted her

believes that both
that

2t

probably thougtrt that the Council might remove Clinger during his

when that
told him that
Further,
the conspiracy to

have Clinger removed. According to Ciinger, "everyons lcnows about

In addition to the materials already described, Ciinger's attomey also forwarded to me a copy of a
text message Clinger received from Mayor Hillary Schieve on June 2A,2t16, which is the day before the
Council met to discuss Clinger's performance evaluation (Appsndx, Exhibit 16). The Mayor's message
quoted a text that the Mayor had sent to Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus and Councilwoman Naomi Duerr.
That text read, in pertinent part:

"As for Andrew's contuact I am not going with a temporary contract. Jenny again trying to
make this council completely unsettled and you rnark my words this will backfire on her. Agan
Jenny is out of line. Andrew doesnot deserve this treafrnent and I am not going down any witch
hunt path with her."

Shortly after my interview with Clinger, I contacted Kamer Zucker Abbott and requested to be able
to interview the msmbers of the Reno City Council, including the tulayor.

B. Ca-!ncilwoman

Naomi Duen' (interviewed October 1 9, 20 1 6)

Naomi Duerr was interviewed at her home n a rvide-rarging conversation iasting more than four
hours. At the outset of the intervierv, she was concerned about the confidentiality of the process. She
reviewed the confidentialify handout that i provided, which was prepred by special counsel for the City.
She was concerned about potential retaliaton &om former City Manager Andrew Clinger, who she says
began actively working with Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus' campaiga opponent. Although she expressed
some reluctance to speak with me initially, she ultimately decided to go forward with the interview.
Duerr was elected to the Reno City Councii lr;r2014 after years in both the public and private secor
as a maager of several entities. She didn't know
well until after she was eleeted to the
Council and says she met Clinger
before the
general election in 214. She dessribed Clinger as "a nice gut'' who got nothing donE which frustrated
her. She describes herrelationship wth Clinger as generally "cordial but unproductive."

Duerr disagreed with Clinger's management stylq which she described as ioeffective and
inefficient. She said he wanted every communoation between the Council and City stafT to go through
him, Courcil members would tell him what they wanted dcne, he'd tell stff members, they would respond
back to Clinger, and Clinger would respond to Couacil. Duerr found that process cumbersorne and
ineffective.

She

just wanted to be able to go to the source to obtin infomration.

Additionally, Duerr began to notice that female staff rnembers didn't talk to her or other Council
plenty of conversations with male staffrnsmb"*,
no direct contac't with
female staff members. She notes tlrat she had few if
converations with
Duem
said she
lack of communication
te
of
silence."
She
Council members and female stafi as
"ctne
once and was told uv
Clinger won't let her talk to Council members, and that she feared

approachedld.irectly

Ithat

22

being fired if she talked to tLem. Based on her conversations, Due believes this was limited
managers and is evidence of how lryomen were teated in the worlace under Clinger.

to fanale

Duerr said Clinger could be "caustic." She related a lunch meeting with him, whee he told her she
was micro-managing him. She said his comments were disrespectfirl and hucfiI, nd "you don't talh to
your boss that way." She wanted to follow up with him to show him that his exampl.es dicl not constitute
micro-management, but ultimately did not.
However, Duerr said that she has never directly wiressed Clinger treating a woman disrespectfully.

Duerr was in attendance at the June 21, 2Q16, City Council meeting to discuss Clinger's annual
performance evaluation. She had not filled out a wriften perfonnance evaluation, as Councilwoman
rekhus apparently had, even though she said Brekirus "begged me to," so that Brekhus wouldn't be on an
island at the meeting.

Duerr described a number

cf events that occurred prior to the June 21, 2A,

City Manager

performance review.
On June 1.3,2016, Duerr said she had a meeting with Clinger to discuss the cancellation of the City
retreat, which had been planned as part of an unveiling of the Olive Grove consulting report. Duerr had
spoken with Anthony Tansimorc of Olive Crove during the consultiug process and admits she told him that
she was one of several Council members 'rnhappy with Clinger's perfbrmance as City Manag. At the
lunch meeting with Clinger, Duem asked why the retueat was cancelled, and was told by Clinger that he
simply got a text saylng it was cancelled-

Dueff also acknowledged that in early August of 2016, after she had reviewed the Mercado repoft,
with Tansimore at Olive Grove and told him about the clairns against Clinger
(without revealing any names). She also told him she thought Clinger had "a l0lo chance" of surviving as
Cify Manager.
she had another convcrsation

Prior to the June 13, 2016,lunch rneeting with Clinger, Duerr had reviewed the results of the
aronpous employee surveys and noted nothing that would suggest any issues of sexual harassment
among City staff. However, she noted that Clinger's performance soores had dropped in 26 of 30
categories and she generally discussed the survey results with Clinger dwing their lunch. She said Clingu'
was worried about being red, but Duerr asswed him she wasn't ready to fire him.
2At6, Duei'r had

a meeting

16 meeting, Duerr said

She had advised Clinger

*ith-who

initiated

it.

Duerr said it was

was

and he appalently didn't care.

23

According to Duerr,
ultimately be fired.

She

was afraid that

if

she made a huge issue

she'd

fdro

said that at this meeting,

"f can't talk about

refised to disclose why she was

it." Duerr wasn't entirely clear during our interview just how

ne .oougnr pernaps Iolo

ner ooorr, !
and may have said, "Lots of stuffhappens there, but I can't
" Duerr said that at this meeting, she didn't know exactly what was happening with
concluded tht something must indeed have been occurring that upset her. Due,rr believes
go to Human Resources if she was having a problem, During our interview, Duerr
said she could not recall if
told her at this meeting that Clinger had sexually harsed her or
touched her, but agreed that if she had heard that information that she wouldove addressed it immediately

told her

this

Iater Duerr said she had lunch with

Duerr said she \rasn't meeting with female
review. Instead of discussing the
Duerr didn't wanf to discuss hin with
evn

discuss

thef

to find arnmunition to use at

kept

talked about

Duerr that
to "go offon
to Duer,
turned her attention to Clinger
repeatedly said, 'ol'nl done
reinforced Duerros idea that Clinger didn't treat female mangers with respect.

Then,

him." this luuch

Duerr said that she has no direct knowledge or eyidence of a romantic or sexual reiationship
between Andrew Clinger
numbr of city employees have asked her about it.
She "speculates" that it's a comfortable relationship, "maybe sexul and maybe platorc," or "maybe iike
brothei and si$ter," b:t in any event very infonnal in nature. She believes that Ciinger has
sign:ificant favoritism in her employment with the City, which she believes has had a negative eFtect on

*tdfbut

s$a

shownl

City staffmembcrs.
said she also alked to-prior
to Clinger's performance review, but lhat
was '?ery guarded" and didn't give Duen much i.nformation. Duerr said she didn't know
well at the tirne, but said her guarded nature lends additional credenee to her theory of how
Clinger treated female mng,s (i.e,, making then reluctant to talk to Council members).
Duerr denied having a meeting

obtain infonnation on Clinger

In preparation frr Clinger's per{ormance evaluation on June 21,2t76, Duen also had conversafions
with other Council members. She tlked to Cormciiman Paul McKenzie on June 20 and said McKenzie
had "dee,p concerns" about Clinger (but not as deep as Duerr's). She also spoke with Counciiwoman Jenny
Breklus, who wanted Cnger out based on issues she'd had with him for over e year. She kied to get in
touch with Mayor Hillary Schieve, but was unable to arrange a time for them to meet. She recalle-d
receiving a text from Mayor Schieve about trying to avoid a'lviteh hunt" at Clinger's review.

At the June 21 Council meeting, each of the Council members had the chance to publicly comment
on their assessment of Clinger's performance. During her cornments, Duerr made the following statemrt,
referring to the anonyrnous employee survys:
"There's a sense of fear I've sensed in some of these comments; I'm
sfuff. I really think those are some areas that need some focus work.

ill intuitive person, so I feel

I'll even say this: especially
24

in the area of femalc managers. I'11 just put that out there. I think, I shouldn't really say that, I
don't really have date about that. faybe I'm sensitive to it, being a female manager * mae oversensitive to it. But if there's r opporfunity to work on that, that's an area to work on"
Duerr said she made the comment as a result of all of her pnor convcrsations with
and
She also referenced
another female manager who was not allowed ta speak to Council members
Duerr said fhat her camment was not addressing issues of sexuai harassment; rather, it rvas simply about
female managers not being able to talk to the City Council.
Ultimately, the Council unanimously renewed Clinger's confact during that meeting on June 21,
2016, Duerr said she voted in favor of it because she knew it would pass, and she didn't want to be "on a
political island" having voted unsuccessfirlly to oust the City Manager.
attended a special meeting called by Mayor Scbieve to address with the
the City's sexual harassment policy. Dueff told me that althoug this
was called and
place the day after her public comments about fernale managers being in
"fear," the rneeting had nothing to do with those comments. Duerr said that tJre Mayor called te meeting
based on three ncide,nts having occurred over a short
of time: 1 an incident involving an
inappropriate text having been sent by
reported
'w
that the Mayor told her about this
was
as
to

Clinger touched her

inappropriately. The Mayor concluded fhat there could be serious issues that needed to be stffrmed
immediately and therefore called the rneeting.

Inmyinterview,Due,lrrecognizedttratifEavingbeentouchedbyClingerwasoneof
the reasons f,or the Jtme 22 rneeting as told to the Mayor by Duerr herself, then she must have had that
knowledge bcfore lune 22,2016. Duerr said that perhaps
her 'ovaguely'' about sexual
harassment dwing their June 16 meeting.
The June 22 sexual harassment meeting was primarily coaducted by City Attorney Karl Hall. Duerr
-told
said she attended the rneeting only because Mayor Schieve wanted her to be there. She said she felt
uncomfortable being at the meeting.

.{bout a week later, Duerr was told that a conrplaint had besn made. She ssumed it was
that made it, because I
nd Duefl had told her to go to Human
had been

if

issue. TVhen Duerr was told that

me that she ddn't realiy know who that was. She thought
employee. Duerr never talked to labout filing a complairt before it was filed.
Resources

she had an

she told

Duerr
made complaints, but she wasn't told
formally until
members on July 19, 2016. Even at that time, Duerr
discussed with Hall the fact that Ciinger needed to be on administlative leave during the investigation, as
Dueff was fearful of retaliation against the complainants.

Duerr describes
1ryomen." She also said that she didn't know

"thtee ethieal,

and
ol'

well.

She had met

z5

beforc Duerr was on the Council as they both were involved

Duerr said Hall briefed Council members on July 2A,z\rc. That briefing included intbrmation on
correspcndence having been received from lI/illjam Peterson, counsel for the compiainants, as well as the
fact that the first investigation report by attorney Alice Campos-Mercado would likely absolve Clinger of
all wrongdoing. It was Hall's opinon that a second investigation mght be necessary. Duerr said that was
the first time she'd even heard about an investigation being done by Mercado. She believes Hall didn't
reaJly take the allegations seriously, saying things like, 'oit's just a leg being ouched."
On July 21,2A16, Duorr attended an already scheduled lunch meeting with Clinger. By now, Hall
had briefu her on the status of the investigation. Duerr told Clinger that she was awre of the claims ard
hoped the investigation would go well so that everyone could rnove f:orward. Duerr said at that pcint
Clinger "goes ballistic," proclairning his innocence in an agry outburst that lasted nearly an hour. Duerr
desoribed him as 'ofu.rious." No compiainants' Iurmes were mentioned, but Clinger threatened vengeance
against them, saying things like, "they're evil," and "they'l| payi' He told Duerr that it's a conspiracy
against him, which he declared \'as a felony, and he vowed to hold them accountble. Dueff said that
went on to
like,'?ayback's a bitch,* and
Duerr explained that she was
at
down. She told him he shouldn't be at work aud should take a few days off. Clinger agrcedto do that.

But the
22,2016, Duerr saw Ciinger al a City firehouse dedicaiion event. She
also saw
as she spoke with Councilwoman Neama Jadon and Mayor Schieve.
Duen
beeause Clinger was there. That aftemoon, Duerr said she had a
conversation with Karl Hall and relayed to him Clinger's lunc.h conversation with her, including the threats
about taking revenge. Duerr's message to Hall was that Clinger ught not to be in the office. Duerr sid
Hall told her that Clinger hacl made the same type of comments to him.
Regarding Clinger's ailger, Duerr said that if someone made a false allegation against yor:, that
complainant needed to be dealt with ard probably fired. But if there's an honest belief that something has
hap'pened to you, even ifnot substantiated, Duer emphasized that there can be no retlation. She said that
Clinger needed to examine his behavior to determine what led to the complaints being made.
Regarding the fact of a possible conspiracy to get rid of Clinger, Duerr seems surprised that anyone
would believe that it occurred, She speculated that gven the timing of the complaints, Cify staffmembers
may have been waiting to see what action the Council might take at Clinger's per:formance evaluation
before acting. Once the Council renewed Clinger with a 30lo raise, Duerr says that 'broke the dam" aud
caused staffme.mbers to take matters into their own hands. She also noted that the cornplaints came shortly
after the Mayor's lvne 22,2016, meeting during vhch employees were encouraged to come forward
they had been subjected to sexual harassment or retaliation.

if

Duem said she "believes the complainants 10070." She also believes that Clinger thinks he did
nothing wrong. She said that it's just part of his makeup to treat yomn a certain way, and that he has no
recognition of the effect it has on them.

Duerr believes that the fact lhat

than sexual harassment ven
She believes that
Clinger's conduct, given the 'lay along to get along" atmosphere in Clinger's administration. She also
purleo ,o
u urge Inono
,"pon tne roucr.ulg mcroenL. uerr beileves rms
Ioeurslon
26

of
with

goes to

She feels that

an

because onl y the latter invites comment on

thought that it's easier for others to

than an allegation of sexual harassment,
to it.

Duerrsaidshe,sseenthetextexchangeb.t*.*nfandClingerduringC1inger,sbusiness
hip to V/ashington, D.C. She's aware that thq Mayor was in \Mashington with Clinger at the time and was
just *""king attentionom clinger whe.lr she
shwn the text by clinger. Duerr thinks thutlwas
sent tbose texts, which she felt she had to do to get along. Duerr doesnot know if there are other texts
between them.

Like

up the possibility of an inappropriate relationship betwear

Sbe said she has no evidence ofsuch a
but believes
she has no reason to be. Duerr believes
also has to

and

Duerr said that she read the Mercado report in eariy August, and that it
her to tears. She
said it's "basically life at work for a woman who's a ma$ager," and
Duerr said she cried to Hall after she read it. 'oThis is how it is to be a woman maoger,"
.Among her fellow Council members, Iluerr theorizes fhat Councilman Oscar Delgado likely does
not believe the claimants, based on cultual reasons. Altematively she believes that Delgado would find
the cornplaints to be relativeminor.

which

Duerr said Councilwoman Neoma Jardon thought that tle allegations were not that significan
Duerr
Jardon has a
in Human Resources. Duerr told ms that

's mind

lne,
l,afi
about the significance ofthe allegations.

uerr believes that Mayor Schieve, Councilwoman Brekkus and Councilman McKenzie all believe
the
complainants.

the complainants' version of events. She canot predict whether Councilman Bobzien believes

Ifeets

guilty for "enabling Clinger." She said

now marshaling wiftresses to try to proteet Clinger

ue,rr said that

,hutlir'l

Overall, I found Councilwoman Duer to be passionate about her beliefs ad &rvently supporfive of
the complainrts. It appeared that given allegations of a conspiracy to rernove the City Manager, she was
reluctant to admit that she knew about certain complaints before they were made.

C. Councilq/oman

Jeny Brekus (interviewed October 20, 201 6)

Ienny Brekhus was elected to the Reno City Council in 2A72. She had worked for the City as a
planner in the Community Deveiopment De,parlment from 1998 to 2A9, and then worked in the privafe
sector as a consultant fiom 2009 to 20L2.
27

Brekhus did not know Andrew Clinger until her first day on thc Council. She said she initially gave
him a fir shaks as City Manager and noted his experience on budgetary issues. Howevet, she quickiy lost
faith in his abilities. She said he favored the older, more experieced Council mernbers as well as the
formermayor.

Brekhw pointed to a fiscal "blundet''lnZA14 regarding the layoffs of Reno City firefighters based
on what was termed a budgetary shortfall after the non-renewai of a federal gant. It was latsr discovsred
that budgetary en:ors filed to uncover a multi-million doilar surplus that would have made the layoffs
urtnccssery, Brekhus said this was ooe of the instances that made her lose faith in Clinger's ability to
manage the City.
Brekhus also noted that Clnger had no experince in the issues that face a growing city like Reno.
2074, Brekhus became convinced that Clinger was not qualified to be City Manager and was
overwhelrned by the task. She believes Clinger eqjoyed tbe stature of being City Manager ("the trappings")
more than he enjoyed tackling the issues.

By

Brekhus was in attendaoce at the June 21, 2A16, City Council meeting to discuss Clinger's annual
prformance evaluation, She was the only Council member vho filled out a written performance
evaluation, which noted a number of areas in which she found Clinger deficient in his perfiomranee
(Appendx, Exhibit 7), She noted that he ooneeds to work to foster cooperation among the members of
Council-" Also, ool ar concemed tbat Mr. Clinger is not providing the needed leadership to the deparftnent
heads about where they should prioritize their efforts." And, "Follow through seems lacking on some
Council directives, particularly those which may be of rnre complicated nature." And finally, " Mr.
Clinger is not managing the organization il an optimal manner to address the growth and dwelopment we
are facing." Her evaluation noted Ciinger's honest and forthright nature, although Brekhus indicated
during her interview that she didn't rcalize at the time tht she compieted her written evaluation that
Clinger was not honest and forthright- Brekhus' own evaluation fonn did not raise any issu of sexual
harassment, as she was not aware of any such issues at that tirne.

Brekhus indicated that she had brnught mny of these issues to Clinger's attention during
performance evaluations in prior years, particularly in 2015. She had become convinced that Clinger "was
not getting ig" even though she had hied to give him the benefit of the doubt.

At the time of Clinger's evaluation, Brekhus freely admits that she wanted him out as Clty
Manager. This was not personal to her, but was sirnply the result of him not beng up to the job. She did
not hide her belief, and told othrs on the Council how she felt about Clinger. Shc is not aware of whether
other Council members also wnted Clinger out. Brskus said that she does not talk to Mayor Hillary
Schieve or Councilwomar Neoma Jardon. Brekhus has befl af odds with Mayor Schieve for some time, in
part over Clinger's performance as City Manager. Brelus said that the Mayor has publicly supported
Clinger while privately having conerns about his performance. Brekus described that dynemic as "not a
positive working relationship," in prt because she believes that the two most important finctions of the
Cify Council are the City's budget and {lhe hiring and supervision of a City Manager. Brelus does not
specifically recali whethe she had conversations with othe members of the Council about Clinger's future
before the performance evaluation rneeting.
Prior to the June 21,2A16, meeting, Brekhus had reviewed the results of the anonymous employee
surveys and notsd nothing that would suggest any issues of sexual harassment arnong City staffl She noted,
holvever, that the results of this survey were progressively worse tlan in previous years. Brek*rus said she
28

believed that City ernployees would likely be reluctant to address sexual harassment issues

in

such a

survey.

Brekhus went into the June 21 meeting hoping that Clinger's contact would not be renewed, but
she did not know how all of the other membgrs of Council would vote. She said that past experience told
her that he would probablybe retained.
She was suqprised when Councilwoman Naomi Duerr made comments at thc June 21 performance
review about "fear" among some female managers. Brekhus had uo idea where that comment canre from,
and she recalls looking at Councilnan David Bobzien in disbelief when Duerr made the comment. After
the meeting, Brekhus asked Duerr if someone had given her some informtion that led to the colnmelt and
Duerr wouldn't say.

Ultimately, Clinger's conkact was enewed on Brek*rw motion to enew with a 3% raise. Brekhus
said she went ahead and made the motion because she was aware she didn't have to votes to oust Cliuger,
and because she was afraid that someone else would put to a vote a motion with a much greater salary
increase.

At the time, Brekhus didn't have the sense from City employees that they wauted Clinger out, or
that they were disappointed in the Counc renewing Clinger's contract.
Brekus did not attend the June 22,2016 meeting called by the Mayor to address the City's sexual
policy. She said she heard about it a week or so after the fact and was told it einanated from an
an inappropriate texf r"ttt by

harassmeart

issue

Brekhus did not have auy conversations with any of the complainants about teir complaints before
they wete fi1ed with Human Resources.

Brelibus said that

called her
far not listening to

believes she got

this caii shortly before Clinger's performance evaluation.

In mid-July af 2A16, after the
were filed, Brekhus said she
to see
at a coffee shop reviewing some papers
said she hadn't seen
r'u
.rlrs*',u$
s..,s
that *she had
urar
a linq" and
I
'ci,'u
at the same time
"had played the game to get ahead." Brekhus tried to
recognizing that they might be in an adversarial relationship if
an action against the
City.

Brelus had one conversation with

since the conrplaints were filed, but Brelfrus
told her that
stuck to work issues
would like to come back to work
but that "no one is talking to us." Bekhus has had general conversation
the complaints were fi1ed. \iVhile walking neighborhoods for her campaign, Brekhus
happened to unknowingly stop at
Later tirey conversed about generally family topics
only. Brekhus said she's had no real discussions with the complainants about the substance of tlreir claims.

tn*Irome,

29

Brekhus recalied speaking with Anthony 'I'ansimore of the Olive rove consulting firm, and said
she told him "the same things rs everyone else." She was not happy to be tlking to yet another consultant,
as she indisafe.d it was the fourrh time in four years she has had to speak with a consultani. She described
this as evidence of Clinger's inability to insfitute a shategic plan for the City. She did not tell Tansimore
that there were three councii members out to get Clinger, because she thought it was only she and Duerr.

Brelftus said she has never personally witnessed Clinger keat a \oman in a derogatory or sexually
inappropriate way. However, she related her own instance with Clinger in Novernber of 2015 when she
believes he acted in a retaliatory fashion. After apparently making a negative public commnt about the
City Manager, Bre*fius got a call from Clinger the following ay, In that call, Clinger told her he heard
that she was publicly critical of him, and he also told her, "it makes me not want to do things for you."
After speaking with uerr about it, Brekhus decided to meet with Clinger and give him the opportunity to
"walk it back." Clinger did not recant which, when considered with other recent events, convinces
Brel*lus that Clinger harbors hostilify and retalitoryrnotives against \omn.
Brekhus said she has never seen ny evidence of any issue with Clinger involving alcohol, aud is
adamant that she never told anyone, including uerr, such a tbing. She is rvare Clinger rnigbt go out for a
drink after a Corurcil meeting, but she considered him to be hsalth conscious.

S/ith respect to the instant allegations, Brekhus thinks it's certainly possible that the complainants
in a concerted effort once the Council agreed to renew Clinger's contract. However, she indicated
that acting in concert doesn't necessarily affect the truthflress of their allegations. Coliectively, for
acted

different rsasons, she said the courplainants believed Clinger was not an effective City Manager.

Having reviewed the Mercado report, Brekhus found some of Clilger's actions to be "juvenile."
Things like ptting the chair forfto
sit next to him, or sending or receiving juvenile txts or
chats, ad allowing his relationships to affect City business, all spoke to Brekhus of Clinger's inadequacies
as City Manager. She conceded that she doesn't have any evidence that
was in any inappropriate
personal
if
he
flrch
but
were in
with
it would
a
to Brekhus
why
Brekhus said
she knows of no evidence that Clinger and
were in any type of personal
relationship.
Bre*hus said she had conversations wth
frushation with Clinger's performance as
s
some
directives but followed them "like a
soldier." Bekhus suggested to other Council members that
about

"it didn't

D. Councihvoman

NeoragJardon {interviewed telephonically Oober 14,2}rc and October 21,2A16)

Neoma Jardon was elected to the Reno City Council in20l2 after spending over twenty years with
the law firrn McDonald Carano Wiison, whcre she worked in Human Resources, Covernment Affairs and

Marketing.
She knew Clinger as

City Manager and said

she got along

with him "very well."

30

Jardon was in attendance at the June 21, 2t1,6, City Council meeting to discuss Clinger's annul
perfor:ance evaluation. Shc had not fi1led out a writfen performance evalutior as Councilwoman
Brekfrus apparently had, and told me that she had private conversations with Clinger about some concems
regardilg his performance as City Manager. None of those private conversations had anything to do with
sexuai harassmerit or how he treated lri/olen, generally.

At the public meeting to discuss Clinger's performance, Jardon's cornments were mostly positive.
difficult times," had repaired some broken relationships and
had done "a lot of really good things." She noted that Clinger still had work to do to improve
communication between City deparhnents and she encouraged him to continue improving on his
She noted that he had o'steeted the ship through

willingness to inte{ect during Council discussions.

When aslced duriag cur interview if Clinger ws a good City Manager, Jardon indicated that she
thought Clinger did "a noble job," based on the information available to her.
As of the date of Clinger's perfonnance evaluation, Jardon was aware that certain Council members
wantcd Ciinger out s City Manager. She said Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus had wanted Clinger out
"from the beginning," and that Councilwomar Naomi Duerr had more recently developed reservations
about Clinger, She perceived that the other touncil me,mbers thought Clinger was doing a good job.
Jardou was not av/are that any Council mernbers were actively trying to undennine or rsfitove Clinger.

Prior to the June 21, 2AL6, meeting Jardon had revewed the results of the anonJmous einployee
srrveys and noted nothing that wouid suggest any issues of sexual harassment among Cify staff. She was
therefore surprised when Duerr made a coment at the public meeting that there was an issue of "faro'
snong certain fsmale staffmembers. Jardon had no idea what Duen'was taiking about and was unaware of
any such fear among City staff.

Knowing that there was some negative sentiment toward Clinger among ceain members of the
Council, she believed that there might be an issue at the meeting regarding whether Clinger would receive a
raise when his eonkact was renewed, but she did not think renewal itsclf 'as going to be an issue. She had
no convelsations with other Council members in the days leading up to the evaluation regarding whether
Clinger would be able to survive his review.
Jardon did not attend the June 22, 2A1.6 meeting called by the Mayor to address the City's sexual
harassment policy. She heard about the meeting at solne point aftenrards, and believes she was told that
the reason the meeting was called was because of some allegation of harassment that did not involve
Clinger.
Jardon met with Anthony"Iansimore of the Olive Crove consulting finn, but did not tell him that
there were at least three mebers of the Council that wanted Clinger out as CityManager.

exc,pt

Jardon did not have any meetings

that she recalls one meeting witlr

.r-rr.r,, f
rld.vr-l^l 1
altogether unusual when t came to
Jardon consoled
was told,

of the complainants before the complaints were lodged,

late
or early June of 2016, where she carne
ofce- She described that as not
since she appeared
bad here."

on to tell Jardon
did not defend
conduct

made no mention of any offensive

about

considered herself

Jardon

that during
31

tbat since shs oftn ssmed unhappy, perhaps she should consider
f
that made her
She made this comment because it seemed to her that
job duties.

coriversation, she told

Jardon said she doesn't know

very well, but describes her as "methodical,
intelligent and produces good work product." Jardon's
doesn't seem
particularly happy in her job. Jardon has never heard cornplaints &om
or being
overworked. Jardon described that she's had "virfually zero interaction" wi
Jardon first becamo aware of the complaints when City Attomey Karl Hall advised her that the
complaints qere communicated to Human ftesources.
Jardon reviewed the Mercado report and thought that many of the allegations were "kind of high
school" in nature. She was suprised, overall, at the nature of th complaints. She didn't consider an

allegation

of having work taken

away,

or additional work Srven, as being in the

nature

of sexual

harassment.

Jardon said she has nevsr seen Clinger teat any femaie employee (or any woman) in a
disrespectful, derogatory, discriminatory, sexually cornpromising or retaliatory martner. She has seen him
at work and at social functions like family barbecues, and she emphatically repeated'.Iever" when asked if
she'd seen Clinger treat anyone inappropriately. She also called an allegation that Clinger abused alcohol
as'oabsurd,"
Based on knowing Clinger, Jardon said she believes that the allegations are not true- However, by
August or Septernber of 2016, it was clear that Clinger could no longer mnage at the City. "&tthalpoint,
there was no putting Hurnpty Dumpty back together." She notes that even at the Council meeting to
address Clinger's separation frorn the City, certain Council members took the opportunity to get "thei
pound of flesh."

When asked if she believes the allegations re part of a plan or conspiracy to push Clinger out as
C Manager, Jardon says she has
this but has oono definitive
' She has head from others
that Duen, Brekhus and/or
urged or promoterd the
complainants to make their
to support
She finds the timing
of the complaints odd, having occurred just after Clinger's performance evaluation, as though certain
to vote him out than we have to." Jardon said she
decided that, "if the Council is not
in her suspicions because
She said, "it wouldn't surprise
me"
Jardon said no one has
lobbied her on
Councilwoman Duerr told me thaf after

inten'iew with

there was a

impact on Jardon. As a rcsult, I re-contacted Jardon on October 21,2016, and asked her if the
meeting had changed her opinions on the allegations. She told me it had not changed any ofher opinions.

E. Couss$a$ ial Mc.KWiq (interviewed telephonically

October

21,2t16)
32

Paul McKenzie was elected to the Reno City Council tfi 2AI4. He knew A.ndrew Clinger while
Clinger was with the State and McKenzie lryas a lobbyist at the State Legislature for certain conshucticn
trades, although McKenzie said he didn't know Clinger rvell at that point.

After McKenzie joined the Council, he said he got along fine with Clinger. They began building a
friendship, socialized after Councii meetings and attended City eveats together on occasion,

McKenzie was present at thc June 21, 2016, Council meeting to discuss Clinger's annual
performance evaluation. McKenze's public comments \ilere somewhat negative toward Clinger, as he
discussed not seeing progress on issues important to Council mo:rrbers. McKrzie questioned whether it
\ryas a communication issue or a motivation issue, and discussed certain Council priorities "falling through
the cracks'o during Clinger' s administation.

During our nterview, McKenzie said he didn't care for Clinger's management and leadership style
He said, "you can't blame athers fbr things not getling done."

As of the fime of the performance evaluatian, McKenzie he was considering voting to not renew
Clinger's contract.

McKenzie said Counsilwoman Naomi Duerr cailed him the night before the Jrine 21 meeting to tell
hm bout concerns about Clinger among Cify staffmembers. She did not bring up any issues of sexual

Clinger's coa'act was renewed. McKenzie recalled that during this conversatio1" Duerr also
brought up issues that
had with Clinger, but those issues did not involve sexual
harassmerit or any offensive touching.

After that conversation, McKenzie said he was still surprised during the June 2l meeting when
Duen made the public comment about *fea" among female staffmembers. When she said it, he had no
idea what she was talking about, He was not aware of any femle employees being in fear.

At the meeting, McKenzie was part of the Council's unanimous vote to rene\ry Clinger's contract
with a 370 raise. Asked why he voted that way, McKenzie indicated that he knew he didn't have enough
votes to prevent renewal. He knew he hd Duerr's vote and Counciiwaman Jenny Erekhus' vote, but he
needed one more ad didn't have it.
McKenzie did not aftend the June 22,z0rc meeting called by the Mayor to address the City's poiicy
on sexual harsssmflrt. He found out about it several
and was told it was called after an
inappropriate text message was sent
He said that when the Mayor told him about
meeting and the text message, she talked about'oa culture
of behavior among higher administration" in the City. McKenzie recalls telling the Mayor that he didn't
think Clinger's conact should've been renewed.

McKenzie said he didn't meet wit'h any of the complainants prior to their complaints being fled.
City Attorney Karl Hall told him about the complaints after they were filed. Hall also mentioned at some
point before the completion of the investigation that he thought it was 'olkely a witch hunt by disgrnntled
employees." McKenzie found this comment by Hall to be inappropriate.

33

McKenzie said he met

He said that they became "fairly
time an the Courcil, but she nevsr
compiained to hirn about Cliager. lvlcKenzie said that
attempted to set up au appoinknent
with him prior to the Council meeting on Clinger's
but their confficting schedules never
allowed that
to take place. h{cKenzie said that during the June 2l Council metng, he saw
the meeting and appeared to be upset. He tried to contrt her in the days
following the meeting to speak with her but she didn't agree to meet.
tt
MeKenzie said he
in the hall. He hasn't
the June
work," but hasn't talked to her about her complaint.

2l

well, jusl enough to say "hi" f they met

meeting. He knowsl"a
liftle through

McKenzie sad he hasnot seen Clinger tueat a female employee (or any woman) inappropriately or
disrespectfirlly. McKenzie said different people have different approaches. He desuibes himself as o'a
hugger,o' since he often hugs people he hasn't seen recently. He understands that some might find this
inappropriate, but it's genuine and friendly on his
and is not in
motivated. He thinks
Clinger is te same way. He also mentioned that
Councilwoman Neoma Jardon and Mayor Hittary Schieve might also
into that category. McKenzie said
not in tat category and likeiy wouid find thehup offensive.
McKenzie said being "4. hugger" might not be the best thing in a position like Cify Manager, even
thouglt there's no sexual intent in the hug. McKenzie said he has no problem with Clnger being that way,
-s
unless it causes a rift among staff and affects Cify business.
McKenzie read the Mercado
and
it was noteworthy that the only things Clinger
denied were the touching incidents with
noted that on one of those instances (the
"elevtof incident) the eyewitnesses said ir
't happen. On the othe incident (the "leg touching") he
noted that there vas an eyewitnessJ but that the witness might be biased against Clinger,

McKenzie said that after reading the Mercado retr)o, he thought there was enough in there to
warrrt "sitting Clinger down and having a conversation" with him about the events. In McKenzie's
the two
that bothered him the most were:
once
wre
go on voluntary administrative leave immediately after the complaints \ryere made. McKenzie called these
things part of a "chain of poor judgment" on Clinger's part.

Additioaally, McKeneie related a conversation he had with Duerr during the investigation, during
which she told him tht she had qpoken with Clinger and that he vehemently threatened revenge on the
claimants. For MeKenzie, this was the final skaw tliat led him to believe Clinger could not continue as
CityManager.

F.

Co-rnciknan Oscer Pe1 gado (interviewed October 20,

2Q1 6\

Oscar Delgado was elected to the Reno City Corincil in 2A12. He didn't know City Manager
Andrew Clinger until he began to serye as a Councilman and he said their relationship evolved over the
past four yers. Delgado said that during his first two years on the Council, he had liltle or no relationship
with Ctinger, and it seemed that Clinger was 'tighter" with the Mayor and Councl members who had been
in office for a lot longer than Delgado. Delgado said that after the 2A74 elec1oos, there was essentially a
34

"whole new regime" in City government than had existed when Clinger was first appointed in 2011.
Clinger took that opportunity to come to Council members to try to understand the direction they wanted to
go as a Council. Delgado said that a personai friendship with Clinger developed at that point. He said it
was nw "srt of a kadition" to have a beer at a local estabiislunent after lcng Council meetings, and that
Delgada, Councilman avid
Councilman Paul idcKenzie and
attended. Other
more occasional attendees
City Attomey Karl Hall. Delgado said the remaining Council members and the Mayor were invited but
never attended. Delgado described these gatherings as 'oone and done," meaning that no one had more than
one drink before leoving.
Delgado was in attendance at tire June 21, 2016, Cify Council meeting to discuss Clinger's annual
performance evaluation, He had not filled out a written performance evaluation, as Councilwoman
Brekhus apparentlyhad, but preferred to make his comments public. His public comments at the meeting
were mostly positive, but he indicated that he wanted Clinger to weigh in on Council debates more
frequently during meetings. He also stressed a need for more diversity among City stafi mernbers.
Overall, Delgado noted that he appreciated Clinger's honesty as City Manager.

When asked during our interview if Clinger was a good C Manager, Delgado responded
affirmatively. "Generally when I asked fr sornething, he responded." Delgado said that as a Council
meutber, he tried not to become involved in the day.to-day operations of
of the Council tended to "micro-mn"age" Clinger.

staff, whreas some members

As of the date of Clinger's evaluation, Delgado l/as alryare that some rnembers of the Couacil were
not happy with Clinger. He said Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus rvas o'not shy about saying so," and tht
Councilwoman Naomi Duerr "had reseryations about Clinger." He also said that "there was push back" by
Councilman Paul McKenzie when it came to Clinger. To his knowledge, however, no mmber of the
Counsil was activeiy tr:ing to underuiine or remove Clinger as City Manager. Delgado fully expected
Clinger to survive the perforrnance svaluation and to have his contract as City Manager extended.
Prior to the June 2I,2A16, meeting, Delgado had reviewed the results of the nonyous employee
surveys and noted nothing that would suggest any issues of sexual harassmert among City staff He was
therefore surprised when Councilwoman Duerr made comments at the public meeting regarding 'Tea"
among "female managers" on Clinger's staff Delgado had no idea what Duerr was talking about and had
no awarsness of ay fear among female maagers.
Delgado did not attend the June 22,2016 meeting called by the Mayor to address the City's policy
on sexual harassmet. He first heard about the
about a week after it
and has heard that it
was called

Delgado said he did

any of the complainants prior to the complaints being fiied. He
noted, however,
to contact him before Clinger's evaluation, but
had never complained to Delgado about Clinger.
Delgado did not spoak with her. He said
Coincidentally, Delgado said that hehappened to see
a local restaurant on the moming of our
interview. He said 'hello" to her and said
TVhen Delgado tried to console her,
to
do
what
was right." She also told Delgado that the ahnosphere
him, "I'm sony. I tried
fto1d
at the C was "like
school." Delgado was carerl not to discuss any issues related to the
investigation with

35

Delgado described
contact with her in his years

as

City. He

"cold but

" and said he hasn't bad that muoh

said he'lhardly knows'

Deado recalls speaking with Anthony Tansimore of the Olive Gave consulting firm in May or
June of 2016, but did not tell Tansimore that there were three Council members out to get Clinger. He was
v\tae that the results of the Olive Grove study were to be unveiled at a scheduled rebeat, but learned from
Clinger that the reheat was cancelled because Councilwoman Brekfius wanted the retreat to comply with
the Open Meeting Law.

Delgado said that he has never seen Clinger treat a female employee (or any woman) in a
disrespectful, discriminatory, derogatory, sexually compromising or retaliatory manner. He said he's seen
Clinger in professional and social situations and that he's "always treated people well." He has also never
seen Clinger abuse alcohol in any wa and has nevsr seen Ciinger intoxicated at work or at a Council
meeting.

Delgado reviewed the Mercado report and says that 'Tust knowing Clinger," he thinks that the
allegations against him are 'robably not true." He read the text exchange from January of 2016 behveen
Clinger *dlthat
was attached to the Mercado report (see Section lV(C) above) and did not
attribute any bAryqqlqeriq to Clinger based on those texts, although he believed that Clinger should not have

res'U',u...rI

,,L',.r.

Regarding the allegations against Clinger, Delgado said that he has tried ta distance himself from
the investigation, as he believes that is appropriate for a member of the City Council. However, he
indicated that he thinks there was "a consolidated effort" to get Clinger out as City Manager, in part
because of the timing of the complaints. Whether true or not, the allegations made it so that Clinger simpiy
couldn't manage anymore. The allegations themselves prevented him from managing certain employees,
since any aetion he might take would be seen as retaliation.

was

G,

elgado said he is awae that

with the tluee claimants. He has heard that
Delgado said he'd previously lost trust
negative comments about the Council,

has

close

telling employees
he became awae

Counc,ilman avid Eobzien (interviewed October 19, 2016)

David Bobzien was appointed to the Reno Cify Council tn 2A14, to

fili

a vaeancy created when

Hillary Schieve won election to the office of Mayor (she ran as a sitting Council rnember). Bobzien
previously served four temrs in the Nevada State Assembly.

Bobzien knew C Manager Andrew Clinger during lobzien's time in the Assembly, as Clinger
previously worked as State Budget Director. During that period, Bobzien described his relationship with
Clinger as "advers&rial," since Bobzien was a Democratic Assemblyman and Clinger worked for a
Republican goveffior. He described their interaction as always professional, even if they fought politically.

Bobzien was present for the June 21, 2016 Council meeting dwing which Council members
conduced Clinger's arrrual performance evaluation. He had not filled out a written perfiormance
evaiuation, as Counclwom Brel*rus apparently had, but preferred to make his comments public. He also
indicated that he had some private conversations with Clinger regarding his performance.
36

Bobzien's comments at the meeting regarding Clinger's perforrnance rruere prirnarily positive ones.
He used e positive comment from one of the anon)rnous employee evaluation fonns to higtigbt a culture
of positive motivation and morale aong City staff. He descibed that as being 'lery important," and
noted that apparently Clinger \ryas "a leader in ttrat effort." Overall, Bobzien aoted that Clinger had done "a
greatjob this year."
When asked during my interview

if Clinger

was a good City Manager, Bobzien responded, "For all

I knew, yes."

As of Clinger's June 21, 2A16, performance evaluation, Bobzien \l/as ar/are that some Council
members dd not approvc of Clinger as City Manager. He said tfiat Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus had
been consistently critical of Clinger. In fact, Bobzien said tlat Brelhus was consisteritly critical of most
tt
C staff
few favored" indivduals. Bobzien
mcntioned
as one of Brekhus' favored employees,
although Bobzien was quick to point out that he didn't disagree
was doing a good job for the
L.rry. .,'e JusL noro [nar I**
never the object of Brekhus' criticism and virtually every other City
employee was. Bobzien noted that Councilwoman Naomi Duerr was not as "aggressively critieal" of
Clinger as Brekhus was, but created a "drumbeat of criticism" and w,ould "dive down" into issues with
Clinger to the point of micro-management. Bobzien also said that Councilman Paul McKenuie ws at
times critical of Clinger but at other times was happy with Clinger. He described MeKenzie's criticism of
Clinger as being less consistent than that of Brelus or Duerr.

thatl

. As of Ciinger's avaluation" Bobzien said he was genrally a\ryare of the foregoing Council
membets' issues with Clinger but did not have a sense that any on the Council were actively hying to have
Clinger removed from his position as C Manager. He had spoken with Mayor Schieve in the days prior
to the meeting and both wre concered that certain Council members would use the meeting as an
opportunity to create o'a spectacle" or'oa circus." He was concerned that the meeting would be "criticism
without an endpoint'o instead of a constructive conversation to obtain solutions. He was aware that the
Mayor wanted the meeting to be productve and generally supported Clinger, but that she had also
idcntified areas of necessary improvement
Prior to the June 21,2A16, meeting, Bobzien had reviewed the results of the &lon)nllous empioyee
surveys and notd nothing that would zuggest any issues of sexual haassment among City staff, Against
that backdrop, Bobzien said he was quite surprised when Councilwoman Duerr made he comme,lrts at the
meeting, which included reference to "fear" atnong "female mangers"" Bobzien had no idea what Duerr
was referring to, and his first thought was, "Holy cow. Are we getting sued?" He desoribed fe comment
as "an instant red flag," but had no idea what she was talking about. He was unaware of
fear
female
was
some
He
&wfe" of
part
.
he
government
scontent was
staff should simply be concerned with
getting the job done for the benefit of the City.
('fbar"
comment, Bobzien said that if she had inside information about one or
Regarding Duerr's
more female managsrs having teason to be in fear, she should have shared it virith Council membe in
sorne otler forum ratl.er than just "dropping it in a Council meeting" related to Clinger's performance
evaluatioa. Bobzien didn't seek out Duerr after the meeting to ask what the comment was about, in part
because "it's not the first othe-wall, shoot-from-the-hip statement she's made" at Council meeting.
The Council meeting closed with Counciiwoman Brekhus making the motion to renew Clinger's
contract with a 3% salary increase. Bobzien said that either Brekhus didn't really want Clinger gon or she
37

simply knew she didn't have the votes to oust him and didn't wnt to be considered the political outsider by
voting against the majorify.
Bobzien did not attend the June 22, 2A16, meeting
regarding the
City's sexual harassment policy, although he heard about it after the fact. He did not believe that the
of that
had
to do with
but related it to an inappropriate text sentl
Bobzien said the Mayor told him about that
incident and indicated that Clinger handied that issue appropriately

and had

o'a

he was generally
frushated

the

flne professionai relationship"

with her

as

He said hc knew she was

surrounding
lssue

Bobzien ttrat she didn't think

"had her back" on
the issue and didn't
Bobzicn said
to him
about Clinger were issue-specific, and that she never told him about any pemonal complaints she had with
Clinger or that he harassed her or rnade her feei uncomfortable in any way.
Bobzien said that overall he had a

Bobzien said he's had little or no contact

withJeuet

Bobzien sad he had no meetings with any of the compiainants prior to the complaints being made,
and has not met with any of them since the complaints were filed. He became ware of the complaints
almost immediately after they were filed through te "buzz at City Hali." His position was to y to
"sequester" himself from the investigaticn to "let the process work itself out."

Bobzien recalls speaking with a staff menber of the Olive Grove consulting finn during May or
June of 2016. He said he defended the City Manager and his staffdudng those conversations, and said he
otrered some criticism of how the Council worked. He did not tell 01ive Grove that at least three members
of the Council were out to get Clinger.
During the interview, Bobzien said he has never seen evidence of Cliager abusing alcohol (or ny
otlter substance). He said he's had a "front ro1ry seat" to observe Clinger, since he's been out socially rvith
him, usually afier Council meetings. He said he's never seet Clinger drink foo much, never saw him drive
dnnk and never saw anything to suggesi that alcohol interfered in any way with Clinger's professional
obligations.
He said that he has never sesn Clinger treat any female ernployee (or any womn) in a disrespectful,
inappropriate, sexually offensive, discrtminatry or retaliatory manner. During our conversation, we
discussed that there are some men we might not want our sisters or wives to associate with, and Bobzien
said Clinger was "definitely never in that bucket."
38

Vhen asked whether, based on a1l of his knowledge, he thought the allegations against Clinger were
true, Bobzien indicated that he has tried hard not to decide that issug because he believes that the Council
becomes fractured once rnembers take sides on an issue like this. Whether all of the allegations re kue or
not, Bobzien said it points to Clinger's failure to manage his staffby either committing the acts alleged or
"allowing this tool for someone to make allegations to create leverage." He believes it is possible that
others encouraged employees to make complaints to "crsate leverage or a mutual benefit" for those making
the allegations. After reading the Mercado report, Bobzen said his impression was that the allegations
aight not be true because of inconsistencies he noted in the complainants' positions.
Bobzien said he's seen evidence that

interested

in

I{. MayorHillary Schieve {interviewed Ocfober 27,z}rc}

Hillary Schieve was elected to the Reno City Councii in 20L2 and then successfully rar for Mayor
of Reno in 2014. She canre from the private sector, running sevsral businesses, before taking a position
with Citygovernment.

City Manager Andrew Clinger was already in his position whr Mayor Schieve fist became a
member of the City Council, and she didn't know him welt before takiug office. Between 2012 arid2A,
Mayor Sehieve noted that Clinger was more closeiy affiliated with the former Mayor, and during that
period she believes she observed "more push back" om Clinger, at least in part because she was a womarl
on the Council. Clinger seemed more attentive to her requests once she was elected Mayor.
Prior to the June 21", 2016 meeting of the Council to consider Clinger's annual performance
evaluatiol, Mayor Schieve met with Clinger and told him she was concerned about his evluation. She
knew that Counciiwoman Jenny Brekhus wanted Clinger out, and had for a long tirne. Mayor Schieve also
had concems about how Councilwoman Naomi Duerr would address Clinger's performance at the public
meeting.
On June 2A,2A16, the night before the performance review, Mayor Schieve sent the following text
to Councilwoman Duerr:
'oAs for Andrew's contract I am not going wrth a temporary conhact. Jenny again trying to
make this counoii completely unsettled and you mark my words this will backfire on her. Again
.Ienny is out of line. Andrew doesn't deserve this treatment and I am not going down any witch
hunt path with her."

(Appendix, Exhibit I 6).

39

Mayor Schieve said she felt as though Brekhus ["Jenny" in the text] was out to get Clinger and
would make a spectacle of the public meeting by being over-critical of Clinger. She had heard that
Brekhus was rallying votes against Clinger's contract renewal and Mayor Schieve thought that was
inappropriate.

That same night, Mayor Schieve had a tele,phone conversation with Duerr, who explained that she
ras not h*ppy with Clinger. At no time dudng that June 20 conversation did Duerr mention anything
about an allegation of sexual harassment against Clinger.
Mayor Schieve was present for the June 21, 2016 Council meeting for Council members to conduct
Clinger's annual performance evaluation. She had not filled out a written performance evaluation, Ls
Councilwoman Brekhus apparently had, but preferred to make her comments orally at the public meeting.
She had reviewed the results of the anonyrrous employee surveys and noted nothing that would suggest
aay issues of sexual harassme.nt amng Cify staff.

At the meeting Mayor Schieve's commnts about Clinger were mostly positive in nature.

She

City Manager and ls patience n dealing with the City Council.

This'atience," as Mayor Schieve explained dwing the interview, was a bit of a misnomer. She indicated
that she found that the Council members would find themselves berating a City staff member, only to laier
discover that the staffmernber was acting specifically at Clinger's direction.
discussed his positive accomplishments as

TVhen Councilwoman Duen made the comment abort'ofe^r" among femaie magers at the City,
Mayor Schieve was taken by surprise. She had no idea that comrnent was forthconing and no information
about fear
female
She was ware that staffmembers had been told not to talk to Council

once told Mayor Schieve, "I can't talk to yor i'11 get fired." Hortrever, Mayor Schieve
said this reluctance was not limited to female staffmembers. Apparentiy, male staffmernbers were given

thc same directive.

'When

the meeting lvas over, Mayor Schieve sought out Duerr fo ask what her commrt was all
about. Duem was upset and crying, but wouldn't ansrryer the Mayor's question about what led Duerr to
make the comment-

Mayor Schieve, "super emotional," and said thatf

and
confided in her that they'd been sexually harassed by Ciinger.
Duerr said that
that Clinger had
about texts that

told her that

as part

ofa

application.

Upon hearing all of this, Mayor Schieve noted that she wasn't af i/are of what ttre City's policy on
sexual harassment contained, She surrnised that the protocol likely didn't call for employees to bring these
complaints to Council members like Duen. She also wondered why Duen'hadn't come forward with this
inforrnation earlier.

The following da June 22, 2A16, the Mayor calied a meeting

discuss, generally, issues of sexual harassment. hdayor Schieve said
addressed at the
incidents of sexual hamssment that had been

two

to
recent

Mayor
these issues had been handled 'overy

well" by Clinger, Given those incidents, along with the information

4

that Duerr had revealed the night before, Mayor Schieve decided to quickly call a meeting to review the
Cify's policy on sexual harassment. Cormcilwoman uerr aftended the meeting, but nct because Mayor
Schieve asked her to bc there. the said she gave Duerr the option of staying or leaving and uerr opted to
stay.

After the meeting, Clinger asked the Mayor who had been saying things that biggered the meeting.
Mayor Schieve \4as aware that Clinger would be asking staffmembers if they'd said anhing, but she told
Clinger she couldn't talk about it. She can't recall if she told Ciinger that Duerr had toid her things that
wre very disturbing to her, but she knows she didn't mention any nrmes to Clinger.
On that same day, Mayor Schieve talked to
about what Duerr had
said and they discussed having the Polce De,partmeirt's Internal Affairs detectives investigate the matter.
The Mayor also discussed that issue with Cify Attomey Karl Hall, who said that the investigation should
not be conducted by the Police Dartrnent pursuant to the Citypolicies.
Mayor Schieve said she doesn't believe she bad any meeting with any of te complainants prior to
being filed. She believes she heard of the first complaint from Clinger himsel{ who told her
it. Mayor Schieve said she was surprised for thee reasons: I she didn't know
who
2) the complainant was someone other than
based on what the
previously
Mayor
head from Duery and 3i Clinger knew the
complainant, since that
\/as supposed to remain confidential. She also thought that apparently Clinger was uaware that a
comptaint fro-Imight
also be on the horizon.
Mayor
her that they've seen

The

from her work at the City. Although others have told

work, Mayor Schieve hasn't personally seenthat.

desibed

as

who

The Ma

ln her
that
months

was a trigger to some

of the hostility

that

is awarc
handled that issue badlg as he
Mayor Schieve believes
was exposed to over the next few

Mayor Schieve is ware that

She

doesn't believe that

is conducive to an overall
ve atunosphere at the City.
According to the Mayor, while
too close to them and
ttrerefore creates at "us against them" rnentality that doesn't allow tlem to work weli with other City
The lvlqyqaid she ciossn't know if there has ever been any t:e of romantic relationship between
Clinger *dI
She said they "definitely" have some type oi"io** personal relationship, *hi"h *h"
described as being like brother and sister. She's aware that they'lvould fight like husband and wife," and
she's aware of one significant argument they had in ont of stffmembers. Mayor Schieve sad she hasn't
personally seen evidence of a romantic relationship betweenEnd Clinger.

Mayor Schieve said she read th Mercado report. Before reading it, she had thought that
conclude that there ws no sexual haassment but that a hostile work eirvironment in faci existed.

it might

4l

The Mercado repo contains the series of text messages between Ciinger *dlin
January
af 20t6, while Clinger was on a business kip to Washington, D.C. Mayor Schieve said she tvas on the trip
as well, but Cliuger didn't show her the text messges at that time. She said Clinger showed her those texts
in July of 2A16, once the first investigation was already underway. Clinger told her there were texts, and

"it went both ways."

She noted that in the

and

soe complainants had alleged a romantic relationship between Clinger

Schieve has never seen evidence of this, and believes it unlikely

Mayor Schieve spoke with Anthony Tansimore of the Olive Grove consulting firm regarding
concerns about the dynamic between the City Council and City employees. She said she is not surprised
that Tansimore would say that at least three Council members wanted Clinger out as City Manager.
Mayor Schievc told me that she has never seen Clinger treat a woman disrespeotfully or with any
sexual impropriety in fiant of her. She's never seen Clinger touch a \ryoman in a marrer she thought was
inappropriate. She didr't perceive him as ary type of 'lvomanizer," but thought there was a culture in the
ofce o{ "if you're nice to him, he'll be nice to you."

Like Naomi uerr, Mayor Schieve said that Clinger made derogatory statements about the
complainants to her and threatened to take revenge against thern. These statements greatly concerned the
Mayor.
Regarding the allegations against Clinga, Mayor Schieve said she believes tlat there was hostility
in the work environment, at least in
due to the actions of
. She believes Clinger'layed one
wcman off on anoter," and points tc
as an example. She thinks that the
complainants, among otl.e$, likely wanted Clinger out and
went to Duerr vvith fheir complaints
before Clinger's performance evaluation. Then, when the Cauncil renewed Clinger, the complainants took
matters into their own hands. After obtaining infornation on how to file a conrplaint during the Mayor's
sexual harassment meeting, the complainants collectively and collaboratively carre forward.

I.

Kelly Leermn (interviewed rc/20/16)

Kelly Leerman
Prior

has been Director of Human Resources for the Cify of Reno since.t'
in the Human Resources
Las V

Leerman said that she was instructed by City

also

Andrew

not to talk to

of2015

Council

to talk to Council. Certain

managers wefe
with Council.
Leetman said that this might look like t was a gender-based prohibitian, it was more about Clinger wanting
to control the flow of informaticn to the Corncil. He wanted to be the one commruricating with the
Council and thereby having control over what information Council members would and wouldn' have,
Therefore, with a few exceptions,
didn't want staff
to Council members.
Leerman, the exce,ptions included
Clinger ddn't have the knowledge to be able to be conversat on
issues. Staff member
uso
iprfiri-r,
rc
are
speak
directiy
with
Council
members,
for
the sam6 rson. Leerman
I"-'as
42

C $at members Clinger allowed to talk to the Cify

She said that these were just the onty City staff members who had infonnation
complicated" enough to force Clinger to relinquish conbol over the flow of information to the City Council,
since he was unable to communicate the same information himself.
described as "coincidental" the fact that the oniy

Counc were

men.

Leennan said that as City Manager, Clinger lryasn't all that interested in what individual employees
did for the City. Rather, she said that it was always necessary to be deferential when talking to Clilger so
as to be able to keep his attention. She doesn't believe this issue rvas
based, but was just an "ego
issue" with Clinger. Leerrnan said that
have essentially told her the sarne
things about Clinger, but that they may have approached
attention" in different ways

I*

Leerman said she is awae that

was not

on her conversations with

Leerman learned that neither

at the

was

about

it

nof

Leerman that

Leerman

said]"um"

"a iittle shaken and stunned."

to Leerman's office
of Human Resources
Leerman
't really seem to know what to do next. Leerman described this
as hiehlv um.rsual. as
narmally
nd meticulous person. Leerman said that
known ahead of time about
or been the
behind
would have been far inore prepared for how to
oncc
She needed the help

ifIlhud

tr,*h*

On June 21, 2t16, the Council held a public meeting to consider Clinger's annual performance
'With
evaluation.
the help of Human Resourcs, City staff members had completed an anonyrnous srrvey
on Clinger's performance, the results of which were known prior to the meeting (Appendix, Exhibit 6). At
some point befoe the June 21 meeting, Clinger had come to Leerman's offi.ce with the survey results,
asking her questions about why someone might have said certain things about him. For instancq he asked
Leennan why an employee might say in the survey that Clinger was not forthright. Leerman felt that
Clinger was "fishing to know who said what," but instead Leerman recalls giving Clinger personal
examples of ilstances where Clinger hadn't been forthright vith Leennan or other
cited the
the manner in qhich he swprised everyone
Leerman was prcsent at the June 21 meeting and actually introduced the suwey results to the
Councii and invited their comments. She head Councilwoman Naomi Duerr make a cornment about
she didn't know
"fear" among female managers in rhe city
what Duen was
Leerman surmised that Duerr was
Duerr had appare,ntly had contacts with both prior
to themeeting.
On the following day, June 22,2016, the Mayor cailed a meeting of
discuss
sexual harassment and retaliation policies- Leerman wasn't at the meeting but found out about it
shortly after it ended. To her
was called based on flree recet but unrelated

the

C's

evfitts: I

43

(an issue that the Mayor

Councilwornan Duerr ha

*dlhad

fand/or

brought to Clinger, who resolved it aourooriatelv): and 3)

told the Mayor about a conversation Duer had :etn-rlv n* *'t*l
being mistreated by Cliager. According to lerrnan, the Mayor,
events, quickly convened the meeting to avaid having an environme,l:t where

having heard
such conduct might have been seen to be tolerated.

Leellnan said Duerr was at the meeting, which was unusu1l since Council members don't usually
mx with staffmembers at such meetings. Leerman is aware that the City's policies were reviewed at the
meeting which inciuded instructions to ennployees to take afly concems or complaints about sexual
harassment o rstaliation to Human Resources.

Leeqggai4.lt immediately after the meeting Clinger

leamed

came to her ofce and told her that he's

talked to Durr and made ailedons against clinger. terman knew nothing of

ututf

had handled an issue she

to him months earlier

on the issue, kncwing

over

Once the call was

Clinger had essentially

her." This had upset

told Leerman that the Ma

had discuseed with

Leerman said she

pursuant to
sexual haassment
by Human Resources andlor the Cty Attomey's Office. Clinger said he suspected
to Duer u'ere driving the issue and lennan asked Clinger if there rvere any

are to

that

Clinger also menfioned having received texts from

using an application that made the

messages disappear after they were read. This was the first Leermen had heard of any City employee using
such an app. Clnger said he found one platform but few people used it. Then he found a second one and

%t!:#n
Leerman later asked
confirmed that
had
downloaded it onto
ernployees, who vgre
messages secret. In response,
tell Clinger "no" lphon he

tffi:J'-i0"ffiff:*:aid

sonre messases he

got from

*pp.f

about the texting

among other executive stafi had
at Clinger's request. Leermau
she questioned why governmant
to
transpare,lrcy in governmerit, would use n app that kept text
her that it was easier to download the app and not use it fhan to
employees download it.

TVhile Clinger was in Leerman's office after the Jtxn 22 meeting, he retbrenced the comment Duerr
had made the night before about female nulnagers being in "fear." Clinger toid Leerman that he had to find
out who Duerr was talking about. Leerman suggested that she might canvass the fifteen employees who
filled out the anonymous survey, to ky to find out who was upset with Clinger, although she realized that it
would negate the anonymity associated with the survey. Leermaa never got a chance to begin the canvass,
as one week later the first complaint was rnade.
44

onJune2l,2u6,},amtoLeernn'sofficeandmadetheinitialconrpIaintagainst

Clinger (see Section fV(A) above). Leerman saidldescrbed the incident occuting in 2015 to
Leerman as though she gd seen it and not just heard it. Leerman said she didn't know until she read the
Mercado report ttratlrad onlyheard it without seeing it,

After f
left her of8ce, Leennan called City Attomey Karl Hall, wto slre understood had
conducted the sexual harassment
the Mayor one week earlier, and told him about the
complaint. Leernan told him that
ilas likely 'the first fallout" from the sexual
harassment
told
about
complaint.
Leerman
aware that
this time period,
having ongoing

Itot

On Juiy 1, 2016,Icame

to Leerman's offrce to make her complaint against Clinger (see

as
concerned with the
uasn 't reallv comolainins
any
lSSUeS.
to Leeruan that
Clinger
and not with
on tle
told Leerrnan, "[Clinger] treats me dismissively."
Leemran said
the
touching issue not as b eing sexual in nahrg but rather
condescending in nature. Similarly,
told Leennan that she also didn't see the Coffee Ba
touching evnt as sexual, but instcad viewed it as Clingerbeing confrolling.
Scction

to

il;idJ;ih-

Leernan said that

had
confided
She said
didn't mind taking on that
Leerman said
wasn't available or was out oftown.

i"I

"
"the one

In her notes of the complaint, Leerrnan described

least had

but said
when

"credible," based on the fact that

was in comparison to the complaints
and describing 'Ihings they thought"

instead of specific events.

Later on July l,Icame

to Leerman's office to lodge her complaint (see Section IV(B)
above). At this point, Leennan was concerned that three complaints in tluee days seened coordinated, but
she also considered the fact that the lune 22 meeting on sexual harassment might have been a legitimate
trigger of complaints. Although Leerrnan said she thought the timing of the ccmplaints might be
"coordinated,'o she made clear that she wasn't saying that the complaints were "a$ificial."

As of the date of

treatingladly
kept secret in the
some time
responded

by'

Leennan was alread aware that

was
't speaking to
She
as that wasn't a wellLeerman had also seen that
of behavior before from
She said that
and

fuaa

Following her discussioa with City Attorney Hall about the complaints, Leerman was critical of
Hail for telling Clinger the nature off
complaint and gtving Clinger her ide,ntity. She had previousiy
discussed with Hall that they ought not to do that, but Hall did it anyway.

45

Icame

July 18,
to Leerman's office for a meeting regarding the ongoing investigation.
upset that other employees knew she had made the complaint and complained about the lack of
confidentiality of the
Hali came to Leerman's office during the meeting and
joined the convssation with
Hall that he should have told the entire City Council about
On

!*as

the allegations against Clinger, but Hall said he would have even more difficulfy maintaining
confidentiality if all of the council members were aware of the allegations.
Eleven

after that

had documents related to the investigation allegedly

noted that on August 5,2016, it came to her attention that
Leelman regardng allegations ofretaiiation snded up inthe hands of
surmised that the email might have
the
she traced back to the source of the email that
had
the assistance of the
Attorney's Offi ce, Leerman

stolen om her

of an email &om

lVhen
received the eurail and a host of other case-related documents
the issue
that point because she was avare

wi*Iat

didn't addess
an attomey

ved.

Regarding the allegation that Clinger was the victim of a conspiracy to rernove him as City
Manager, Leennan said she beliwes there was certainly some coordination in the ffianner in which
complaints were made. She said that emplcyees thought that Clinger was "a terrible leader and City
Manager," and that he "overestimated his own charisma." She said that the City Charter doesn't really
provide a way to get rid of the City Manager. Accarding to Leerman, many men'nbers of the City Council
were aware of Clinger's shortcomings but didn't have the means to get rid of him. Leeman said there
wasn't really a. coup among City ernployess to remove Clinger, but rather a "concertd eflort to point out
that he w'as a terrible leader." Leerman said that the complaints of
"absolutely
coordinated" but not necessarly entirely untrue. Leermari believes
caught up in this"
flurry of complaints. Leerman said she is aware tat
stired the pot" with
the complainants and thutlthought Clinger was not a good leader.

J. Kgd

HaU (interviewed September 23,201,6)

Karl Hall has been the City Attorney for the City of Reno since being elected in November of 2014.
He ran for the office while working in the V/ashoe County Diskict Attoraey's f&ce. Hall indicated he
had little or no contact with Andrew Clinger prior to being elected City Attorney. Since his election, Hall
indictes his relationship with Clingerhas been purely professional and not social.
Hall, who's office is in the 3'd floor of the Cify office building n downtowr Reno, said he has very
little direct ktowledge of what the "culture" was like on the 15s
where the City Council and Cify
Manager have their offices. He has no knowledge of the
nor is he aware of the
Slaek or Telegrarn texting applications that City employees might have used. When told that these apps
rnigbt make it easier to hide text messages from public scrutiny, Hall, as City Attomey, said he would've
sh^ongly advised against the use of such tecbnology if he had <nown about it.

Hall said that earlier in

20

46

Hali said he was not present at any

was he on an elevator during an incident in which

upset at
Clinger touched

inappropriate

Hall said he was present for a meeting called by Mayor Hillary Schieve on iune 22, 2A16, af
various City staff members for a discussion of the City's sexual harassment policies. He said the Mayor
"hastily" called the nreeting, and Hall was asked to irtruct
on City Policies 603 and 607
regarding retaliation and sexual harassment {ppendix, Exhibit 5), Hail said he didn't know exactly what
prompted the Mayor to call the
although he had heard of an incident
a
text or email
Hall notes that
vsas present at the meeting. At the rneeting, Hall explained (and
Mayor reinforced) the City's zero toleranse policy on sexual harassment and he insftucted staff to
report any such behavior to the City's Human Resources Department.
to Hall the first

on Jun 29,20T6, and was made by

complaints on JuIy 1,2016. The complaints
were reported orally tt Huma Resources Director Keliy Leerman, who took notes. Hall saSc that City
Policy 67 required the City,A.ttorney to review the complaints and direct the investigation thercof. Hall
quickly retained Reo attorney Alice Campos-Mercado, Esq., to investigate the complaints. Hall said he
did not review Leerman's notes
iavestigation. At the time of the
accused Clinger of
her
an affair with
HlI did not have cotact with any of the
complainants during Mercado's investigation.
came

3.

Hall said he met wth Clinger shorliy after the first complaint was filed. Hall advised him generally
that the complaint alleged sexual harassment and told Clinger there would be an investigation. Hall
couldn't recall if he told Clinger the names of the complainnts, but believes he might have so as to wan
Clinger not to retaliate against them. Hall does not recall Clinger's initial eaction to being told of the
complaints.

During Mercado's investigation, Hall

a meeting that Huuran Resoutces Director
her
Kelly
in
was upset with Hall for disclosing her
office with
identity to Clinger. .{dditionally, lsaid
she felt as though Hall should inform the C Councii, as
Clinger's direct supervisors, of the allegations.
Leerrnan was having

According to Hall, Clinger repeatedly asked Hall during the Mercado investigation if he had heard
any conclusions yet. Ha1l said he contacted Mercado on eithel July 18 or July 19,2016, to inquire about a
completion date of her investigation reporf. Hall said Mercado told hirn the report would be out within a
day or two, and in fact Hall received the report on July 21,20t6. During the phone conversation with
Mercado, Hall learned that Mercado didn't s6e any violation of City policies as a result of her investigation.
Hall said he relayed the subslance of that conversation to Clinger. Hall said he did not teli anyone eise
about the conversation with Mercado, including Leerman, Mayor Hillary Schieve, Counil rnembers, tlte
complainants or their attomey.

47

On or about JuLy 21, Hall received the Mercado reporf. He did not give a copy to Clinger, Council
members or the complainants (or their attorney). Hall said he received correspondence from William
Peterson, Esq., the attomey for ail three complaiuants, on or about July 20,2016, July 22,2t16 and July 26,
z0rc. After revicwing that conespondence, as well as the Msrcado report, Hall detsrmined that a second
investigation needed to be conducted, since Mercado only investigated the sexusl harassment claims and
not any claims of retaliafion in the worlace,
The July 22,2016letter from Peterson to Hall alleges, among other thiags, that certain documents,
emails and text messages pertinent to an investigation are being deskoyed. Hall said he did not understand
what Peterson was referring to, but in rasponse Hall sent a Lifigation Hold letter to vaious City officials
directing them not to destroy any pertinent documents relating to the matter of aliegations of sexual
harassment directed at Andrew Clinger (Appendix, Exhibii 18). All of the lefters were identical, other than

department. Hall said he is unaware of any

suggesting any non-compliance with the Litigation Hold letter.

City's

thutfreported

stolenf

that documents related to this case were

He said that according to
the docunents wsre in an envelope in a
the file cabinet did not
device. Hall said he doesn't know if

Hall said the theft is being investigated by the lVashoe County SherifPs Ofce, who stepped in to
the case in place of the Reno Police Department so as to avoid aay conflict of nterest, Detective Robsrt
Markin is handling the case. As of my last contact with Hall, the investigation report is not yet finalized,
although HalI said Det. Markin told him that they have not identified any suspect.
read

Hall said that

claim is

According to Hall, the entire set of

circumstnces

did not have confidence in

said
leg at a meeting and thougt
that
he
bus"
Hall said
on the
'odriving the
often texting
a$er the Mayor's sexual harassment meeting on June
and
tbat
to
a
complaint.
22,2At6,
used
encowage
to Human Resources was
made one week after the rneeting.
HaIl is aware that
Ciinger rub
lone, along with being a

!ru*

*dIHaIlalso

tro-plaint

Hall said he was involved in the negotiations that led to the Separation Agreement befween Clinger
and the City. He said that the complaints, and ihe investigation that followed, made for a "toxic,
dysfunctional atmosphere" that made it impossible for Clinger to continue to manage City anployees.

t.

Enterviewed

september 23, zarc)

48

but said

has been

has become a

with the

aware of rvhat this investigation is about, l*as given a copy of a letter dated
I.uidlis
July 26, 2AL6, from TVilliam Peterso, attorney for the complainants, to City Attomey Karl Hatl that
desibed the ctrairns
made as weil as the identities of the complainants. Attached to that letter was a
detailed outline of
and a copy of ai email sent by
to I'Iuman
Resources Director KeIly Leerman on J
z}rc. This
of information was given to
ernployees
read the entire packet. Asa
result
of the allegations, and
some of
said, 'T have a
lot riding on this investigation, both personally ar:.d professionaliy."

them,f

Iuutnantly "swears" thatlhas never been involved in any type of romantic or sxual
relationship with Clinger. Ultimately,Ibelieves she is "collateral damage" in a coordinated effort of
other City employees to get rid of Andrew Clinger.
Ii*

highly supportive of Cliger and believes he was rinfairlyremoved from office.

and that t's not unusual for her to touch someone when talking
Clinger has
there was never any fype of

toldfflrat

romantic relationship

Clinger.

In early 2016,

Clinger intuoduced to
ne\ry texting
application called Slack. It was designed to
staffmembers
without being subject to review if there was a public information request.
said many staff used it,
althouglt some found it cumbersome. In March or April of 2016, after many stff members had
discontinued their use of Slack, Clingr introduced a ne* texting application called Telegram. He
introduced this applicarion only t" f
und f
to tryl arng with clinger. A-featue of
Telegram aliowed texts befween users to "disappear," such that they could never be relrieved and would
remain sesretive. In refrospec! given the allegations ir this investigaton,Isaid she sees haw the
use of such an application must look to others. She said that Telegram was only used for a short period of
49

time and she has long since deteted the application trom her ptrrone. She said she did not receive any
inappropriate texts from Clinger during the time that Telegrarn was iu use.
described

Iwas

sexual harassrnent

present at tlre meeting called by the Mayor on June 22, 2016, to address the City's
The Ma yor and City Attomey Karl Hall reiterated at the meeting that the City

policy.

has a "no tolerance

meeting
meeting to

when
not.
make a complaint.

r"lievesJuolo

to discord
doesn't

said that
not

r**ro""Fu*
*

durins rhar

staff members

anyone

E"id

she believes that this enfire

is fueled by a 'ofour perso conspiracy''
comprised of the three
and
that Clinger and
Clinger and may
one
having lunch or c,cffee with trvo of the complainants and
complaints.I does not have evidrce tc prove it, however,
suspects that
Councilwoman Naomi Ducrr may have urged sorne or a1l of the complainants to make the allegations.
aware that
leamed that

that documents related to the caso were stolen

after the

was

to

a rus8

had leaked certain documents regarding their slaims to a

reporter for the Reno Gazette-J oumal. .ccording
able to claim that the documents had
been solen provided piausible deniability if it became known that a
had the informatian. She
believes that the "stolen documents" ate th same ones she received
and she *"idIgave
the documents to
cover

t"Ibeing

is quite agrtateq during our intewiew and is understaudably very concerned about the
I
resurtsorthisinve*f;:!,ffffi
relationship with Cl:
i,"ffi :il,FJff
,ffi,i;

:J,i,ilffi

50

M.

Stenrber 23 andoctober zl, 2ar6)

-interqiewed

described for me the incident

on May 13, 2016, at the Cotlee Bar restaurant

where
1jt/as

across
end
tbie.
Ciinger
sit next to him.
therg
it occurred more
once (maybe
sure if anyone else witnessed it.

signaling
rub

she could handle

to talk about it afterwards arrd asked if she was all right.

it on her own, and that she was trying to keep her relationship

not re,port this incioent initially

laia
regarding the incident and stored them as a draft

in
account, ,4.fter our
rne those notes ('{ppendix, Exhibit 8), which state in pertinnt part as follows:
Ctinger direcfed a female staffmember I to sit next to
the Coffee Ba. During the meeting, Andrew Clinger repeatedly rubbed her leg
and rubbed his leg against hers."

erur.!b":*3"

*tur!rr{

ar#are
a complaint against
ryade
Resources Ditector Kelly Leennan and City Attorney Karl Hall about the incident.

saw

a second incident
the Coffee Bar.
sa$/
leg against

clinger,lold Hrman

two weeks later that also occurred

each othe and
aware
reported this

incident.

In the initial investigation conducted by Alice Campos-Mercado,

by not reporting the Coffee Bar incidents when they happened.
should have confronted Clinger but was reluctant to da so

Id,rty'

that

back,

Assistant City
51

looked at
there was any romantic
the way he treated her,
that Ciinger also keated inappropriately.
that

next
the next minute
relationship."

saylng that Clinger has to go

up kying to understand their "bizarre

I"ecalls Clinger inhoducing a new texfing application called Slack in the spring of 2016.
Many among the executive staff signed up for Slack bscaus, as
their texts would be
confidential and therefore not subject to a public records request.
downioaded the app but
didn't use it very much, and then deleted it.lrecognizes now
of a texting application
among public employees designed to
rnappropnate.
is not familim with
a texting
called
is arvare that Clinger later introduced a second texgns
application that
aware that both
thern feel uncomfortable.

E""s

(along *ith clingr.Iindicated thatl i

got messages from Clinger while using this applieation that made
not know the substance of those messages.

not present fo the Jwrc 22,2016 meeting called by the Mayor to address the City's

sexual

not know rvhat

clarified
made

but is
text received by
that the text came from someone other than
noted that Clinger
uncomfortable by looking at her breasts instead of her eyes when he spoke with her

told of the complaints on or about July 5, 201d. lras had conversations ivith
the complainants. both before and a$er they made their complaints to Human Resources, but has no notes
oi I
conversarors.
intentionally did not take notes of those conversations and hn't
doflmented any cther
described above.
said he has ongoing
of hsr
or the
-*as
has ongoing texts with
the state of her heal
believes
suffered.
asa
in her complaint.
bea
wibress should this matter
and for that reason
stay out
any il] vemsnt in the investigation, but said
Cify Attorney Knrl Hall that Hall needed
to let the City Council know what was happening, as the issues might musbroom into a *public fiiestorm."

theft of documents from

s2

came from that review.

awfe

Idessribes Clinger as 'onot a nice person" and o'not decisive." Jsomewhat

casually)
mentions that Clinger had a "drinking problem," came to meetings druk and sometinres came into the
offi ce obviously hung over.

to one or

about

treanent

treats

longer speaks to
back much further.

also

to the allegations that land

the complainants are part of a conspiracy against
Clinger,
said that as of bis supple,mental interview on October 21 , 2016)Isti11 doesn't know the
against Clinger.
has more to do with a hostile
work euvironmen than
isn't aware of the full context
just
than
said he was not
for the
her temper rvith one r more
confided in him
job
point between
about the
losing her
over it.

with

luly l,

2Q16, he did speak to

about

filing her complaint.

On July 25,2At6,
not destroy any
that rnight be relevant to a sexual harassment investigation of Andrew Clinger (Appendix, Exhibit 18). T?re
letter specifically directs the recient to retain emails, text messages, documents,
etc., that might
up
relate to these tnatfers. Based on that letter , and to foliow
on the issue ofwhether

asteafto

June or July
and

with

2At
ith
all text
with
not deleted any text messages.

53

phones,

said that while some City employees get phone allowances, they do not have City-owned cell

ouf

201

f*erviewed

september 26, 2016)

said that on

201

he received a call
10:0 'ffi.t

that
theft

come

responded and
was the rst person to respond

werc taken from

Iwhowasveryupsetwhen|arrived,to1d|t}rattheenvelopwaslayinginafile
it. The enEl-ope had no writirg on it but had blaak Post-It notes on it.
t"
t*ft
at
approxim ately ap.m. on Thursday, Iuly 28, z0l6,and the snvelope
Itold
!t}t
cabinet that had no hangng files in

was in the fiie cabinet and had documsnts inside of it. IVhen she refurned the following moming, the
envelope was still there but the documents were gonr.
lsaid that that the fiie cabinet or cr*drnra ia a
mechanism
on
it
but
,tr"tltoiA
him-it
v/as not locked when the documsnts were taken.
lgqhhe
that her offi.ce doo?ffiotb"en locked ovemight either.
Isaid
had tlked
was told

outside
28 and had not seen anyone enter

p.m.

\ryas

p.m. on

that time.

lsaid Idescribed

the stolen documents as "critical for the events

onr" and said,
the rrong people have them, they'd know what was going on." At the
't know abouf
the complaints that had been made by three ernployees against Clinger, but
a news storv
a-oour diose compiarrrs iarer on rire same ciarv ritutlroid
iirm of the theft. The
ru*
involved the complainants' attomey going public wth the story that three City employees alleged acts of
sexual harassme,nt
City Manager Andrew Clnger . Inoted
that *re stoy of the-theft from
't surface in the media until tree to four weeks later.

*if

ttoryl

said that several weeks before the theft, he saw

in fhe ottices of Human
there for an unrelated reason and
out of Human Resources
Director Kelly Leerman's office with a folder in her hand.
upset" and as she walked
told him, "I hate Andrew Clinger.
if she was all right. She responded, "No," but "I just gotta leave."
Resources.

54

said that'
Reno.

SI

used to

neal

since about 212 tlu'ough their mutual work for the City of
thei
rvorked together on several
the years,
found that they had sorne cctmon

and became

lsaiOl

tdked to
again two to three wecks after the first
thought it was serious enough, she should call the oolic and rnake a oolice
'd consider it. Shortly after
leamed
and he didn't see her agan for some time

the theft,
report.
report.
on leave

that,l

About three weeks after the theft,lbecame aware

e County Sheriffs Office had
taken up an
of the theft- Detectives went to
office to document the scene,
'\/sn't present at the office,accompanied by
contacted her by telephone at
home and she spoke vith the detectivss at that time.
could not hear her conversation with detectives
on the

of the theft,

to his imruediate

nothing unusual.

not

anyone
55

()

tclephonically October 21,

On October

2A 1 6)

building to
have infonnation pertinent to rny investigation.

aware of an ongoing rift between Cify Manager Andrew Clinger ana ltlat
ove a year. He believes Clinger might not even have been aware of the
is nicc to Clinger's face while verbally teadng
that Reno needs a nerv City Manager, ln fact,
typical
that
is incapable of
a plot or conspiracy to oust Clinger froln his
position as City Manager, but he did believe
ws "setting Clinger up" by intentionally not giving
Clingcr infonnation hs would need to report to thc City Counoi.

P.

September 23, 2016)

56

-interyjewed

as o'a nice

described Andrew

Jtd "even

not a
anything
do
never saw him
Clinger

great

may
seen as
inappropriate to any ernployeq rnale or fernale.
alleged

with Clinger

thatlnaa some sort of personal or romantic relationship

that this

has beerr

and

that

people have even alleged such conduct,

ssue

with the City employee. ,{dditionally,

aware

of

's arnual

A
ven to

evaluation in June of 2016, since

of Cl
's evaiuation was the

component

team and

Prior to te Council meetins on

meeting ove, coffe
Duerr
to obtain information to
meetings with

*ithldrng

prior to the Council's evaluation of Clinger.

when Clingsr's contact was ultimately

that
the
renewal
and
raise rufled some City nployees,
renewed
ho thouglrt that Clinger wouldn't survive the evaluation. But most employees who
't express any frustrations with Clinger, even though the survey is anonymons
survy
believes that because of the small number of employees completing the survey, many staff
were eluctanf to criticize Clinger because of the ease with which Clinger might be able to
detsrmine their identity. City staffmembers feared rekibution for thsir criticism.

Iir

that

awre, based upon the questions asked of her durirg he interview wifh Alice
been
into this" controversy unnecessarily-

s7

fr."o*utt'otf

was

6,Ieota

In late June of 201

her direction on certain issues.
and Clinger

wifh

was angry with Clinger fbr not grving

between

call
there was no lssue

she's had issues with other men in authority.

Clinger more than anything else.

20l6,Inud

In July or August af
a conversation with
investigation, "I wish this was all over. It was never supposed to go

and sister"

heard that

I*

who said regarding the

with

has a close

very

romantic relationship between Clinger and

elieves

.'

She has no evidence

of a

and doubts one exists.

lVAS

with

after

unfarniliar with ry texting application that allows messages to disappear, and never

downloaded such an application.

She is familiar with the

Overall, t foundlfo
be quite credibte. She is respactfirlly subdued at being involved in this
controversy at all and is displeased vith having to prove that she did not have a romantic relationship with
Clinger. As mors fully set forth below, virfually no evidence has surfaced to estblish the existence of such
a relationship.

tele.phonically November 3, 2016)

s8

-interviewed

he knew Clingcr on a

basis

pfo
but never socialized with Clinger outside of work.

Clinger on City
not know

doesn't

Clinger

believFer

her position

does trarow
the past.

her.l

had a conversation with

uite a bit in
issues

conversations

with

their work for tbe City. Idescribed her

It<nowt-through
friendly and sometimes she has a tendency to touch peopie when she talks to them. While
some might consider that flirtatious,Idid not.

In March of

with

having a meeting in the

perhaps others in conference rorn
meeting telephonically, and that there
tbere but
can't recali. The meeting had to do rvith
pffson at the meeting might have
201,6

Pat of the discussion at this

as being very

fbesysg

\rith
have been another individuai
so the

the issue of whether

1V5

At

one point,
became

TVhear asked

,il[:#:r,i;:nffi

a comment about knowing when

seeins her neck. or

saidlwouidnt expect nyone to do that in front
rather adamantly,
and taken action,

f,,fffi1#Hiffiffi ocurred,

clearly recall it.

lsaio

that on one or more occasions,

inability to make a decision on issues" She

direction on certain
She never mentioned to
been touched in any 'fr/ay

than this,
any

frustration to

Jabout

Clinger's

never

being offended
59

thatlhas

ne'r,er seen Clinger treat a woman (whe{her emplplee or not}

,irrr-.p"-oruiiy, rnappropggi-y or rn a sexuaiiy suggesuv" *u.-"..laiso rnorcao rirailnevcr seen
anything that wouid leadlto believe that Clinger was involved irr an inappropriate romantic relationship
with anyone at the City.

me

Itold

lsaid

attended the June 22.2016 meetins called by the Mayor regarding the City's sexual

harassment

doesn't recall

whettrerlkne at the time why the meeting

was being called,

recalls

room, he

he knew whaf the meeting was about.

lrecalls

been to
leaming that prior to the lvne 22,2016 meeting,
Councilwomar Naomi Duerr' s home and discussed her
of sexual haassment with Duer.
cannot recall exactly horv or when he leamed that information.
some or all of that information
may have been contained in a Facebook post that he'd seen.
he told Clinger about that meeting at
some point, but does not recall when that converxation occurred

telephonically on Octob et 2A, 2016)

R.

in a professional sense only, having

recalls being interviewed by Alice Campos-Mercado sometime in July of 201 6.

doesn't believe
not know
ever had any conversations with herknows
but knows litlle or nothing about her.
has had very limited
dealings with her in the course of his duties.
knows
to

the

fr"calls

with her on a number of

City. In her position,

attending a

the

of

assists

was held

anyone else

forward.
contractors to help with
60

issues thaf would nor:nally be handled by

to know why they were considering using outside
and
had iszues with the responses they'd received from
that they
found her
respond to issues and sometimes difficult to work
upo'and
of calling her a liar. She then addressed
asked
if was going to
speak to her in that marmer.
o'defensive
and elevated"
of the meeting. Inod that this was the second
the first being approxirnately six months earlier.

Ihadblownupat

Following the

to the elevator and apprcached

said

asking

her, "Ar we okay?"

Andrew Clinger was not at the meeting, but joined

rm-medjately
Tf
after the exchange set forth above.
does not speffiTi@'i? ctin!I]il them in the
vestibule before they got on the elevator, or if Clnger joined them by entering the clevator from a difirefit
floor.

nce on the elevator,

indicated that
could
before
exited the elevator on
any vay, or saying anything

"ith"rf

u*"o*Hil-*':"#xffi
complainant.

-asked
looked

Before

nothing
recall Ciinger

ii#iit,ifrffi,ili"i*ffi,

not to

not a

Clinger, who slapped

on the back and said, "Thanks, I
didn't immediately understand
refened to what
told
his interview. This conversation
two reasons: 1)
do anything for Clinger dwing his interview with Mercado
ths truth; and 2)
thought it was highly inappropriate and unprofessional for Clinger to "basically high-five me" in

lVeeks later,

front

others regarding a confi dential investigation.

l*dlto

Since Clingerns actions

believe that the investigation must have concluoeol fett it
was appropriate to talk about the incident Mercado questioned

Hru3l,:fJ,,'ffi f,
Clingero as
s back

:::,m

H#rih[Hi:tr_1ryfl
.,it

rathe

sai

d,

didn,r happen thar way,,

explained to me thatl would not give a false statement to any inteniewer to benefit
that, "Io not a bg Andrew Clinger fan-" This opinion was based in
after the
and in
on the
treated

61

saidhehu,,""*fafswtimessincethecontenticusmeetinginMarclraf20l6,
and

seems okay'' between them.

Iknows

nothing about the Sexual Harassment meeting that was called by l\rayor Schieve
on June 22,2A76, and was not in atfendance.
speaking on tlre
on some other
that items had been stolen
was not overly
emotional about the issue, but told
that the items taken were documents about the case against Clinger.
She had no idea who had stolen the documents
encowaged her to le a police report.
hadn't
that
she
done
because
she
away -" She said she didn't
Isaid
want to rther
or the
Council.
about the
theft.

infonnation is credible, and his recollections are clear. It is obvious that

blind loyalty to Andrew Clinger, but rather states lrecollections as lronestly aflcan.
September 23, 2016 and Septemb 26,

S.

z}rc)

didn't

aware that
sure

made that Clinger

lu"*t no

and lashed out to

did not keat

well after

event,
been involved in a
62

no evidence or indication that such an allegation is true.

thai a relationship existed.

ln

has never seen

has never heard

of

a mmner

the

lnus

never seerr anything that

melthinL

retaliation or harassment.
and has no knowledge of any specialized texting

applcations.

Gven everything

trturlhas

months,lsaid, "This is one

is
based
This
upon what he observod to be

experienced over the past eleven

of the most unprofessional places I've ever worked

al."

individul agendas rather than working toward a common goal.

Once

got tc know
a numbsr of occasions. She
incident" in 2015 that she reported to Hurnan Resources Director Kelly Leennan.
three members of the City Council wanted
out as
took
between
Naomi Duerr
Council meeting to evaluate Clinger's performaace. At that meeting, Duerr told
tlrought she had enough votes on the Council to have Clinger removed
Ithatshe
as CityManager.

Ciinger
executive staff

of
of
about liling claims

the week

of

201

he had a closed door

She

tc move
same information mntained

20 ernail to Kelly Leerman.

the plan was to get Clinger out and
become Acting

should
become an

of whom
thal tLere was a

and

Clinger

was

ln on

likely

1n

to get rid

of

once Clinger

was gone.

remove
believes
remotely

ws t'
ve claim of sexual harassment against Clinger

on or about htly 27 or 28, zat,]onfided even

take a walk with her outside the buildinp Once outside,

f,o

invited
a magazine with
documents secreted inside.
said the documents included l/illiam Peterson's Iuly 26,2016 letier
to Karl Hall with
A, the outline of events (see Section IV(.) above)
2A,2016 email
describing acts of retaliation (see email quoted in
These documents
detil the
' vrious claims that were
reported in confidence to Human
all of the t{ocuments to
63

handedl na

lsecreted

futo a magazine that

attention to the July 20 einail from
"it's not fair that you're involved."
conflict might arise.

lfithin

y nme.

told

trying to enlist his support in whatever

Jtold

documents,
that there were discussions

about the theft

of

fhat one of the three might resigu and take their allegatious to the press. Later that day,
saw

Gazetfe-Journal about sexual harassment ciaims having ben made

gven

it was
that
hve direct vidence to support this claim.

****F**,j1ffi:tr
After

the July 20 email

also showed the group
mentioned throuehout.
seeing a number of stories in the press about the allegations against
ro see Clinger at a caffee restaurant and stopped to discuss the email uith bim,
theorizing that he must have already received it.
't seen it,
him the
set of documelllhad received from

It*,rl'uooeneo

"otlr"
0n ugust 5,

femailed

2016l**

Leemlan and an Assistant

the July 20

ff:J

toid that the document

given the docwrents to

them how

have been stolen, at which point

Itotu

much longer than he

had begun setting up
look worse tban
awaf,e of what
would be in danger

Iio

that the informationl** providingto Human

the following texts on thc morning of August 6,

On the following day,

Resources
201,6,

claimants.

from

Morning! Are you available for

a check in by phone?

enjo,ingl

Hey therel FIope you are

I'm a bit busy this moming
but rvill be availablc later after 2 p.m. I got called into IIR on Friday and was told to not
discuss anything unless I'm interviervcd. I'd be happy to talk though! :)

yes, it's about that. Keily indicated ,o

urat ,,someone,, came to her and
f
brougirt the July 26 letter that I gave to yol and told her that we are going to the media. So
we are trying to figure out if Kelly is intimidating us without the backup info or if we need
to change our strategy. T/e haven't gone to be media with our attorney lefters to the city, the
media only has the lstter our attomey sent to the AG. But if the city thinks we are going to
the medi4 they might try to go to media first and control the stor We just necd to know as

64

much info as possible. I'm sorry to put you in the middle! You can just sy "nr comrrent"
if that feel best.
(Appendix, Exhibit l9).

**F***f

ry*#iff

,::ii:i:1;tr*T;Y#,:"#*ffi '."iil;J"|l

was also concsmed about how the complainants appeared to be formulatine a media plan to control the

messagebeingdisseminated-saidthis'.'ppo't.!uetierthatttierewasacoordinatedeffort
between the complainants and others to discredit Andrew Clinger.

t. trntsrviewod

telephonicaliy october

7,2a)

with

in the

suggestions.

lsaia

ltras

seen Clinger around atkactive

she has never ser Clinger act inappropriately.
womerr and has not noticed hirn to give them a second look. Clinger had friendships with some employees,
butlnever sarff evidence of a romantic, sexual or otherwise inappropriate reiationship between Clinger
relationship with Clingef ur "iit* a brother anJ sister."
and-anemployee.

lescriur I

as 'othe best

described

was "t.e cheedeader tpg"

as a'ohelper" and a "mentor.o'

treated

as she worked under

and life.

nature,

shculder."

"

had an open door policy for staff

having a negative personality, "lways with a chip on her

of heitean memb-ers," uno putldo',rm regaring her
65

had an "inappropriate" relationship with

were virfually inseparable, both in and out of the
given special privileger
that no other team member

stated

er{oyed
described

said

seeing Clinger
discussion, with the door to
Clinger" regarding
again the
8:00 a.m.

close to

p.n1.

office

was'ubasically berating
conversation ensued

that later that day,

very outspoken about ,4.ndrew clinger.

to
investigation.
Manager and

rH,$

byf

such

iras

faith in Clinger as

believes that

theykept

derogatory cornments
was happening in the

at a distnce.

aware that the City Councl would take up Clinger's performance evaluation at a meeting
I*'*
on June 21,2QI6. ltrad heard ntmors that some Council mernbers wanted Clinger out, butlwas
a\ryare tliat his contraet was rne\ed at the end of the evaluation
did not attend that Corncil

was at
Naomi Duen'.
Just before th*

b"guo,I

meeting
congratulated ths Mayor on the council meeting
regarding Clinger's evaluation. In response, the Mayor commented, "He wasn't even supposed fo have a
job. I was on the phone until 2:00 a.m. convincing Counc members to keep
comment in agreernent with the Mayor. This cnversation
f.
meeting, Ielayed the lVfayor' s comments to

Idi

not attend the June 22 216 Sexual Harassment

cailed by the Mayor, but she
heard about the meeting from
apparently instructed at ths
meeting, taiked to her team
on sexual harassment and retaliation.
was present for
sexual harassment

which
that

it

was

y the City Manager who was the focus

complants.
66

on August r, zarc,Agot a text from

attend a meeting on the 9e
floor, which is where Human Resources s located.
concerned about what might happen at the
meeting and she called both
Andrew Clinger before attending. Both of thern gave
reassurance that she'd be oka and to attend the meeting.
the meeting by
meeting,
and said that the
said she's

office on the 9' floor to conduct the

about the complaints
being a witness).
there's been retaliation

lell.

and that her

Hall, have not

(with!

said that the City, ncluding City Attorney Karl

appropriately, a mistake that they'Il "likely pay for "
said that

as a result.

laho

the allegations being rnade are true.

During the meeting,

her idea to have
said

tht

it

was not

critical of the way Clinger handled that issue.

On approximately July 15,2A16,

a confee,nce room.
recalls that daJe because she believes this occurred on the duy
Matter mch in Reno,
which she says was on July l5e.
the conference room to try to
then began talking about Clinger.
said, "I hate him. I hate him. I
hate him." Her
anger was directed at Clinger for making her wcrk late.
she thought

two.
believes that the allegations against Clinger are not true and that he's being "railroaded." She

to file

believes that

also met with

Since Clinger's separation &om the City, Jsent

support. She hasn't seen Clinger since his separation.

is credible, even though

him a text message of encouragement

and

it

appears she was

on the outside of the
controversy,
witness to only some developments. She is most loyal to
by and
large seemed to be most concemed with being able to make positive things happen in her job for the City of
Reno.

U.

,4nthon] Tansimoe (interviewed telephonically October 13, 2016)

Anthony Tansimore is Vice President of Leadsrship Impacf for Olive Grove Consuhing a
Californi consulting company. In 2016, Olive Grove was retained to providing consulting work to help
foster a positive working relationship betwen rnembrs of the City Council, and between the Council and
the City Manager and his staff In May and June cf 2016, Tansimore and his associates interviewed City
67

staff and City Council members o gain an uaderstanding of the issues they face in communicating and
workingtogether. His report (Appendix, Exhibit 17) was completed in the beginnine ofJuly.
During the course of his work, Tansimore discovered that Cify Manager Andrew Clinger tended to

tell Tansimore one thing and fhe Council another, which did not serve to establish a positive working
relationship between Clinger's office and the Council,

Before the report was released, Tansimore communicated to Clinger some of the conclusions
Tansimore had reached after interviewing mei:rbers of the City Council. Tansimore told Clinger that to a
person, all of the Council members thought that Clinger was not a good City Manager. Tansimore told him
that three Courcil members (Paul McKenzie, Jenny Brekhus and Naomi Duerr) were essentially "out to
get" Clinger.
Tansimore said that Councilman McKenzie was more of a loner on the Council, in that he was not
part of any established group of Council members. He wanted the Cty run like the military, which wasn't
happening under Clinger's adminishation. He told Tansimore that he doesn't get answers from Clinger or
his staff, which is uskating to McKenzie, but that he had no personal animosity aganst Clinger.
Tansimore told me that Councilwoman Brekhus told Tansimore that Clinger and his staffdon't do
things the way the Council wants them done. Tansiscrs said that Brekhus is very close io Councilwoman
Duerr (and other Council members told him the same thing). Tausimore called Brekhus and Duen "allies,"
and said they formed a "cabal" against Clinger. Councilwoman Brekhus also told Tansimore that Clinger
had worked for fwo Republican governors, but that most of the new City Council was made up of
Democrats. Brekhus told Tansimore "thers's a ns1ry day in Re.o," and that Clinger was part of a'ogood old
boys' network" that was no longer in control in Reno.
Tansimore spoke to Councilwoman Duerr in May of 216, who toid him that Clinger has a different
agenda than the Council, which makes things difficuit. After the allegations surfaced and the first
investigation \ryas complete, Duerr had another conversation with Tan.simos in August of 2016. During
that convcrsation, Duerr told Tansimore about the aceusations aganst Ciinger ftut not the identities of the
complainants). She wert "on il1d on" about Clinger not being a good leader, and told Tansimore that she
thoughf Clinger had "about a 1% chance of surviving" as City Manager.

Tansimore said that his conversation with Duer was the first he heard of the nature of the
allegations. Based on all of his discussions with City employees, including Clinger, he had "a hard time
believing the allegations are true."

his

if

Tansimore told me he still doesn't know the identities of the complainants in this case. I asked
interviews reflected
staff members who seemed particulariy angry with Clinger, and he named
It is important to note that the Olive Crove interviews with
early June of 2tI6, well before tlie complaints were lodged against Clinger.

He said nutlwas
very emotional dudng her interview and was upset about not getting
better management and communication from Clinger. She told Tansimore she has a close personal
friendship with Councilwoman Brekhus, and that they share some disappoinnent with Clinger as City
Managei Idid
not mention anything during her interview with ransirnore that touched on any

issues of sexual haassment or retaliation.

Tansimoredescribe[as.1eryBngry,,'withaoersonalanimos,'towad.Clinger.She
of disrespect in City offices, and thet culture started at the top with the Cify

complained of a culture

68

Manager. she also said that ci staffdoes not get any direction aom cling*. t
not mention to Tansimore any facts or issues relating to sexual harassment or retaliatorJ

it"Jshe
coF

did

The results of the Olive Crove study were to be presented during a rekeat for City staff, to include
City Council members- Before the reheat, Taasimore cailed Clinger and suggested he cancel the retrea!
based on what Councl mernbers had told Tansimore about Clinger, Clinger agreed, and the reheat did not
go forward. Tansimore later sent his report on to Clinger.

October 20, 2016)

ftota rne he only knew City Manager Andrer1Qger "srperficially" during his time as city
ffi i'iJ;i,iffi iJ,*:l;;*:i#:lfliF*o"JT*r*:"J,;"*ctingerrearanvone
I
describes her

indicated thar he has worked with

as "competet, caring'o and said her ten

occasion and
oys

"opinionated" but he got along with her because she, like

butthatin
him he was "mucklaking" following

know

told
not happywith that fact.

I'u're

talking to people,

between
conversation with
made it clear that she was

-'erywell,'ofriendly" but indicated tht untl late July of 20i6 he

Idescribedl*
didn't have much contct wi6Ter.
or a6out
On

28,2416,

the instant

sav/

bied to
leaving
hope the truth conres out."
him, "I cnnt."

It"ew

after a

said

that

to say
since
"things will be said
she should just lell the truth,

had

she

might be

issue arising with

job over it,

her

AboutaweekaftertheJuly28,2016,conv-ersation,|saidheap!en"dtos'"fata
Iocal restaurant.

ldescribed

0n or about
email written by
retaliation. No
should be aware of."

her as upset and apologetic when she

ru*I

201
were

to the email.
dated July 20,
69

behind her

and

"frequently fraternizes with

Exhibit 3, aftached as an

to

possession of the email.

in the emil are not true. At the

says

good

the email
not tCI tell

asked

On or about ,August 5,
stolen,

know

said

had a

2A1

Hurnan

Dunagan interviewed
Leerman d Dunagan that
obtained it.

talked to

complainants.
Ciinger one
she needed to tell tle tuth.

into this,"
would'
about
't leaked it to
the allegaticns being nrade against Clinger are not true.
certain people would bemefit if they got rd of Clinger
that

Vt.

appears to be directea at
Human Resources

to

be

Further, lbe[eves that

appeffs obea set-up, and that

evesfiee.{'s-s'q.ctu$,E Sd{}}qg

The City

I*d
Carroborative or

comptainant.
descriptions

may not be exhaustive.

The conclusions set forth below are based upon all of the evidence obtained during the course of the
investigation. lt bears mentioning again that the investigation was completed .ithout an opporlunity fo
interview the claimants.

Many of the allegations made by

those complaints are therefore considered together
are terefore considered separafely.

and

overlap factually, and

are individual to her and

70


..

above,Iras

.4.s set forth in Section IV(A)

her complaint against CityManager ,ndrew Clinger.

l.

made cedain allegations that form the bis

of

The 2015 Groping Incident

kr her original complaint to

alleged that while

20i5, she witnessed Andrew Clinger and

Human Resources Director Kelly Leerman
described tbe incident in a manner suggesting that
Clinger.

late in

of

"groping" one

fltr

original cornplaint.

She

seen th interaction between

and

When interviewed by Alice Campos-Mercado, !

conceded that she hadn't actually seen
anything. She said she had heard the rustling of clofhing-thatled her to believe mutlaud
hnge,
were having physical contact. She couldn't make out any conversation between the two, but heard sounds
of 'leasure."

Both Clinger and

denied that such an incident ever occu:red. There is no
corroboration of the incident of any knd. There is insufficient information to establish that the event took
place.
The incident thatf
described fourteen months later that she heard, but did not see, can not be
substartiated in any material way.

2. Clinger's behavior towardl

laneged

In her original compiaint to Human Resources,

uncomfortable by stopping at her desk, gaugrng her approval of him.

that Clinger generally made her feel

Nokbly,ftold Mercado that Ciinger nevsr said anyth@appropriate to her and never touched
her in any inappropriate manner. Cliner denies ever heating
an inappropriate manner, and no
other witness described Clinger treatingfin an inappropriut* mrinnr.

Iio

Other witnesses described

general dislike for
with him about getting rid of Clinger as City Manager.
before and after

ffff":ffi"ffi:":l';*J#
Certanly,

frehtive
rn

Ispoke

said that
made
of the first investigafion.
derogatory comments about Clinger.

discomfort is individual to her and cannot be regarded as substantiated or

light of the fact that she did not provide an interview for this investisation.

The fact
that Clinger never said anything inappropriate r.., flrif r$ srglun.,tnt. as ts r
stated dislike
While her discomfort may be real, the fact remains that no inappropriate acts
Clinger to support that discomfort have been established in this investigation.

of

7l

As set forth

many of the identical compiaints against Clinger that have been lodged by
lreated together herein.

l. Clinger's reiationship wirhf

gomlandlrave
magnitude as

it

alleged that a personal relationship with

of such a
caused Clinger to make certain adminiskative depisions based on that reiationship.

Clinger (see Section \n(AXl)

I*tegation of having witnessed a tryst between I*d
abov"ffii" lurg* mesure er opinion thai a romaritic relationship existed.t nrvo" tltut,t

admitted to Mercado that she has no other direcf knowledge of the existencs of such a relationship (ther
thanrumors among other City employees).

In her original complaint, I

told Kelly Leennan that she believed Clinger *d
were involved in a romantic relatnsl.Eris belief was based on rumors and an apparent familiarify
between the two. She admtted to Mercdo, however, that she has no personal knowleJge to establish the
existence of such a relationship.

number of
in different

relationship between
and
that they
ways.
told Mercado that Clinger
exkemely
c1ose, but said she doesn't
s ev6l been a romantic or sexual relationship between thern.
Councilwoman Naomi uerr said she's heard rurnors of a relationship but has no direct knowledge or
evidence that such a relationship existed. Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus said she had no eyidence that
was
nvolved with
other than the fact that she believes it explains why Clinger
Hillary Schiove said she has no
describes their relationship as being
like brother and sister, or hwband and wife.
desrribed that relationship as
that of siblinp, and that it had a
to "run hot and cold.o' She had no evidence of a romantic or
sexual relationship between
and doubted that one existed.
the
relationship between Clinger
as being akin to a
syndrom," given the
inconsistent and disparate opinions
regarding Clinger.
described

Xescribed

Irro

Although nearly every witess provided an opinion of the relationship between Clinger and
on* provided a singie piec of evidence io suppo* the existence ora romantic-slrexual

;'*:l'xl:trrs:Xxnr*-*M;im-.im,g:*'.*.ffi
relationship is lacking.

For their part, ]!1ggjd I

also denied the existence ot"a romantic or sexual relationship.
Both ae married. I
adamantly denied any romantic relationship with Clinger. Clinger
acknowledged that hiffiionship with I
was different than his relationship with other City
employees, but described their relationship as o'honest" in that Clinger knewthatJwill "be real with
me.'o He denied the existence of any romantic or sexual relationship, although he was aware of rumors to
that effect among City employees.
Clinger's attorney provided a history of over two thousand text messags betwee,n Clinger and
the period begirning in October of 2015 and ending n August of 2016. Although the texts
Ifor
appear to show a close relationship, there is little or nothing to suggest a romantic or sexual one. It is at
times difficult to ascertain the context of certain messages so as to understand them. For instance, t:

uo-

Ito

clinger in November of 2015 saying, "You want me to come over?" could be construed as
evidence of a relationship. But when reviewed in context of other texts, it is less suggestive:

You waat me to come over?

Ln* if I can help

I know

're

ntt

I*"

texts but
and

give to Anjanette on the police chief.

I have to leavs
in my office

message

fNovember 5, 2015 texts, Bates CLI-00230J

Viewed in eontext, the three texts above ate not suggestive of anything other than co-workers
dealing with job*elated issues
l.ontemporaneously sent al1 thee texts wlthout any response from
Clinger,
On November 17, 2015, there are texts between Clinger
avre ofrumors about a relationship between them.

I spent sD( HoLtRs

*df

that suggest that they are

witi you today fenroji showing shock]

Clinger: I need tirne to le able to think

Clinger: I know I'm sorry
Not heing the rumors [emoji]

Clinger: No more rumors

[November l7,20l5 texts, Bates CL-A07-2381

In and of themselves, these texts don't appear to suggest that a relationship is actually occurring, but
rater that both ar atvare of the nrmo within the office, Most of the tsnts establish a working
relationship where Clinger placed great trust i" I
Clinger: You are very quiet today

rryrng to not rock anyboats

Clinger: Sametimes the boat

aeeds to be rocked

Iprefer to stay out of houble

Clinger: You're nvr in trouble

Ioon'tlietome
Clinger: Civil disagreemsnt is healthy
73

Clinger: I never hold

a grndge

Clinger: I know you're loyal and work hard

Clinger: I eed and value your unfiltered opinion

[December | 6, zl 5 texts, Bates CLI-0025

l, 252]

These texts exemplifu many of thc texts over the ter months of messages reviewed for this
investigation. Rather than be indicative of some romantic or sexual relationship, they evidence a trust
between the City Manager
Even afier
of Clinger trying to

the text messages are indicative

she still has his h'ust as City Matager.

I don't

r,ant

to be put in a position to fail.

fa*r
Clinger: If you can't do it tell me now
Clinger: You're going to have to be tough

I have questions and once again would have liked the opporfunity to discuss before
direction was given.
Clinger: Relax
Clinger: The only direction was to have a meeting

I'm sorry
out from underme?

if I'm

sensitive but Jesus how many times a week must

I have

the rug yanked

Clinger: Thebest thing far the organization is

Clinger: If you want to work with Bill Dunne on it, fine
CIinger: But he has the expertise

IHowmy
Clinger: vou

supposed to

.*f

but I

thinkJ

should be the main staffworking on this

Ion
Clinger: You really have to stop being so sensitive
74

But I understand your direction.

lt's oK. I understand your direction

Clinger: Being brutally honest

Clinger:

k
don't want mistakes

Clinger:
Clinger:
Clinger:

[April27,2016 texts, Bates CIJ-0A347 to352]

These texts are hardly
Clinger dealing with the issue

of a romaotic or sexual

are indicative

of

From July 15,2A16, forward there are nurnerus text exchanges that discuss the ailegations against
Clinger and his belief in the conspiracy against him. I
shows support and encouragsment for
Clinger as he faces the allegations, but none of the texts re indioative of any improper relationship
u'Lwgll rrrrrt-gt *rt r
Based on

all of the foregoing, there is no credible

substntive evidence of a romautic or sexual

TVhile they shared a close personal relationship

relationship between,{ndrew Clinger and

based on past work history and their relative positions with the City, no credible widence has been
uncovered to suggest any inappropriate romantic or sexual relationship.

2.

The relationship between Clinger

*rdlcreated

Bothland

difcult work enyironment

*ithI

resulted.

in favoritism in

the worlace to the detriment

In hsr initial

to Hurnan Resowcs

nutlbecame

upset

and took those frustrations out on

and

told Alice Carnpos-Mercado that

made the worlace uncolfofiable for

75

which indirectty affecdlas

in large msasure because

assistant. Isaid
romantic relationship

*ithl

in her nifial

said

that Clinger mishandled the

was furious with

said

ongomg

told
exacerbated the

the investigation has not uncovered any evidence to support an allegation that
were involved in a romantic or sexual relationship.
asserted that Clinger
treatrnent
a esult of his inappropriate relationship with

Clinger
failed to act

Ih*

oflut

For purposes of investigating this specific allegation, it is

establish the
existence of a romantic o sexual relationship between Clinger and
may believe that the reson for Clinger's action is his ongoing relationship with
the more
is whether the conduct occurred and resulted in a diffisull work environment for
For this allegation, it is immaterial whether Clinger allowed an uncomfortablc
work enviroament
because of a romantic relationship or because of something else.
witness interviewed on te

Human Resources
already a\ryare atthat time that

Leerrnan, who
wasn't speaking

criticized

In the einail to Leerman dated July

acknow ledges

on July
Leerman was one of
Leerman said it was clear to

2},2}L6,fdescribed

"1.

The office atmosphere

unbearably hostiie and tense. I am

Iam

oshacized

l, 2016, was
whohad

the discomfort she experienced:

has become
is so unpleasant that
and am having a hard time doing my work. I
staying iate at niglit - which I fonnerly did

no longer feel
ln n.
regularly and is necessary because of my heavy workload."
that

was confrived
Clinger) after
&om
He was aivare
and that for montls afterwalds
didn't communicate with
semblance of professionalism. Clinger said he was also ware of the effect that

was aware

said he

with

and that

with

was having

oo-

that the actions

of

any

her.

76

awale
trigger to

that the rneeting was a

was exposed to over the following monrhs.

observed that

Ididn't

well after the

in the

deeply troubled by

told Mercado that

from

basis for

had a

the tasks

She also said that

Based on all of the foregoing, it is clear that

uncomfortable work environmetrt. It is less clear that
been presented or

It"ld

has suffcred as the result

of an

Leennan and Mercado that she did not

The evidence suggests that

Still, that doesn 't suggest that her discomfort at wotk is deserved or otherwise excusable. Her

discomfort was clearly the resultofl

ongoing anger

Idid

Having concluded u*t

suffer from
allgr
and
and
having also concluded that no inappropriate romantic or
Clinger, the issue then becomes
Clinger made his organizational decisions based on his
personal relationships. The gist
in this regard was that Clingerhad taken
crtain steps because of his
with
or at least that favoritism based on personal
relationships affccted

These

the victim of favoritism

not reflect that

The onlv notential claim. then. is that

prevented him from
's relationship with
ro amerlorar.Ianger toward
Clinger said he had several meetings with
fo try to
he heard how she was
her behavior. He also said that he
somewhat untruthfully),
ea.r
does not appear, however, that he took any other steps once
Instead, the work environment continued to
it to be a'toxic cesspool," and City Attomey Karl Hall
described the envroriment in City
said it lvas a "toxic dysfunctional afrnosphere."

F",,f::"hffi

",niHmlY I

77

officestobe..likehighschool,',andforvariousfeasonsEescribedtheCityas.oneoft]re
at." Although all of these comments are not entirely

most rurprof".{qal plates I've ever worked

atkibutabletoIangertowardfthefactremainsthatthecultureamogClinger'sstaff

was less than optimal. The City Manager is ultimately responsible for the sfucfure, culture and atmosphere
ofhis offi.ee. He is vested with the authority to make changes and improvements to address hostitity.

is substantial evidence that the worlace environment at the City deteriorated to apoint that
no longer finction there. No evidence suggests th*tlbrought
that on herself
evidence establishes that she was victimized by an unprofessional office eirvironme,nt, based in
large measure
anger
The evidence also strongly suggests that Clinger did
not take efflective steps to lessen
It cannot be determined whether Clinger's
just a geireral lack of skill in
inaction was based on his relationship
with staff.
that
Schieve
had a tendency to 'oplay one womn offon arother,o'
an example

zAr

dated September
a claim that Clinger
and firtler that he referred to

Mark

said that

it with

and he recailed
time did he refer to

said that at no

He is aware that

may have referred

but that

was not the one who

said that
said
occaslon.

to

heard

Clinger desibe

was

not
said
themselvcs

tht

Clinger
Based on all of the
disseminated the
infroductior it does not appear

4.

doesn't know how

it or disseminate it.
March of 2016 and
never heard Clinger

was the first fo share

recalls Clinger
there

didn't recall
to

no evidence to establish

that Clinger inkoduced or

While he took no steps to prevent its
any negative effect on City staff.

Clnger relationship with

78

Both
sexual relatonship

that Clinger had an inappropriate romantic or

was unaware o any

reason
relationship was taking place.
told Mercado that whle she has seen
office, she has no facts to support her suspicions about

lhte.

I*dclinger.

I"nter

Clinger's

she has scen

without a business-related reason
for being there. She
accused Clinger and
of "disappearing" for periods of time. She later
conceded to Mercado that she has no personal knowledge fo establish the existence of a romantic or sexual
r'r1uururp
a*u ururg,r.

uo,*"orrf

between!

Councilwoman Naami Duerr also mentioned the possibility of such a relationship

conceded that she had no direct evidence of such a relationship, but said she believes
She also said she believes Clinger rquireofb
'lay
along to get along."

other than the collectively unsupporled allegationr ofland

uerr, no witness
interviewed in this investigation communicated any belief that such a relationship existed between Clinger

*dI

Clinger denied any inappmpriate relationship

circulafed to that effect. He said it was unfortunate that
He has "no idea" where this allegation comes frorn and beeves it is

Idr"ied
She is

the existence
that this

he was awar of rumors being

of

basis

Mayor Schieve said she has never seen evidence of any improper relationship betweenEnd
Clinger, and called such a relationship olnlikely," knowing both individuals. Councilwoman Brekhus said
she had no reason to believe that such a relationship existed.

Notably, claimant
contention
relationship existed.

thatfand

told Mercado that she knows of no facts to support a

Clinger were involved in any relationship, In fact, she obscrved that no such

Clinger's attorney provided a history of text messages between Clinger

ndlfrom

Ocfobsr

12,2A to August 4,2016. There are rougily eight hundred (80) texts between them during that time
period. The text exchanges are mostly business-related, sometimes sarcastic but never indicative of a
establish little more than a iendship among cclleagues,

romartic

Based on all of the foregoing, there is insufficient evidence to

involved

in

any type

of

inappropriate relationship with

acknowledge that they heve no evidence, other than their suspicions when

an allegation that Clinger was

Even the
79

Althougtr no interviews have taken place with the complainants for this investigation, it is
conceming tht vo of them [*d
have addsd this allegation without *y
I
whatsoever. It is unknown whether they continue to pursue this allegation, They apparently were".id.o..
content
to lodge the allegation with Human Rsources, only to tell investigator Mercado that in fact they had no

:J#ffi','fJ*'i"#"iffi ::Try*i';:i'il,HF*5#0ry

concertedly sought to firrther sully Clinger with an allegation having no merit. It is disturbing that
Couneilwoman Duerr collaboratively adopted the allegation as well, despite the fact that shg too, had no
evidence to even remotely support it. Despite her oft-stated sensitivity to the ptight of female staff
merrrbers, Duerr nonetheiess adopted this allegation againstE:rd coumunicated it as her own theory
during this investigation.

There simply is no evidence to suggest that any improper relationsh existed between Clinger and

5. City officils breached duty of confidentiality

In staterreirts to Alice Campos-Mercado, and in an attachment to correspondence from attorney
Williarn Peterson, grq.,Iatleged that the Cify breached her right to confidentility in the ariginal
investi gative process.

2A,}arc,-albged
confidentially,Iwould not be experiencing

In an email to Human Resources Director Ke1ly Leerman dated July

that

if the City had conducted the original complaint

acts of retaliation.

her complaint to Human Resources on June 29,2t1.6.

Complainantsl*d

about the original complaint.

him.
was

complainaut.

of a breach of confidentiality must be examined in the context of all sunounding

I"Uim
Ihad a meeting with Leerman and Hall on July 18, 2016, during which she alleged that

circumstances.

confidertiality had besn brokef. She also criticized Hall for not informing the entirc City Council about
the allegations. Tlr.ese two positions are somewhat inconsistent.
More
others about her claim.
shortly after

,I"laim

of a breach of confidentialify is weakened if ltro"lf

said that

about

told

groping incident
about a meeting
80

attended
Duer to discuss the complainants' claims. She told him that
there ws a plan in place to get rid of Clinger as Cify Manager. Most
copy
of attorney Peterson's
20t letter
in deil the complainants' claims, along with
detailed exhibits from

notably,Igavrfa

lherself

oflstatements,

resolves any doubt as to the veracity

rbiiowug sraremenr rn a rexr
on August o, Zuio:

rof

when she included the

tolthat

"Kelly indioated
"someone" cat to her and brought the July 26letter that
gave to you and told herthat we are going to the media."

(Appendix, Exhibit I 9).

Iotherwise

identity is made less

uninvolved

meritoriow clairn that the City breached confidentiality by giving Clinger her
when Iprovides much more information abut A corplaints
-clineer,to an

But for
Interestingly, in her interview with
"critical witness" in the investigation,
ard

f I!

-;Tff

informati on he received from

to

Mercado,r.J,1,'tP|#**#ff:?
lai***ses

In that same text

the possibility of providing informafion to the
media before the Ciff does, or as part of a *stategy" to "conhol tlre story." It does not appear that
confidentiality was lchief
conern at that point in time.

It is not known whether

about

the complaints. In the text to

words
"we," 'bs" and "our" when discussing the "strategy." As a number of witnesses have given information
rsrgru'rg r urur,n lerlllu.*srup usl*oor.Jor.arl
lr rs fsrsuraul tu asuum' 6,,.Ewg
part of the collective groupleferred to in the texr
said

thatlako

told him that there was a plan in place to get rid of Clinger
her about the complaints and the complainants,

Itoid

as City Manager.
said that
and that all of the allegations against Clinger were true.

Based on the foregoing,

it is evident tltat

Iidentity

and information bout her complaint was

disclosed to Clinger by City ttomey Hali. Clinger then told others in the City. It is not evident that
anyone provided Clinger with
identity until the first investigation was
nearly completed. Clinger said that although he went into his July 13, 2016, interview with Mercado
believing that
the
the (necessary) questions posed by Mercado led him to the
conclusion that
also made complaints against him.

either-r

It is also clear

thatlattdlreleased

critical information about their complaints and the

other complainants to other City einployees during the investigative process.

C.

As set forth in Section IV(C) above, tut..Ihas

basis ofher complaint against CityManager Andrew Clinger.

made certain allegations that forrn the

81

I
Although much of the focus has been on allegations of sexual harassmen!
complaint to Human Resources on July L,2A76, was a fear of retaliation
told Human Resources Director Kell
at
feared that
she would suffer retaliation &orn Cify Manager Andrew
She was concemed that Clinger had not
supported her when she uncovered the issue.
said that one of tte reasons she thought that
Clinger might retaliate agi4g! her was because he had treated her "dismissiveiy''in the past, citing to the
*rslarrugs r,,at ne auu"r,*I

Iexisting

When
met with initial
Alice Campos-Mercado, she arrived primarily
prepared to scuss
retaliation issues. Insteadn the discussion surrounded her
aiiegations of Clinger having touched her inappropriately.

Mercado,Isent

on Juty 12,2A16, the day after her meeting with

Mercado an email
saying that she had not ntended to become part of a sexual harassment investigation, but rather ws
looking for protection from retaliation
No evidence has been presented to suggest that the City Manager, or anyone
took
action
could be considered retaliatory as a result ofher report of
Karl Hall said that there was'obiowbacko'from
and
ihen
reported the issue, Hall uitimately determined that
was correct
Councilwoman Naomi Duerr said that she
the same
conce as
prevailed
issue, rd that ultimately she
on the
upon
to take
necessary corrective acti on.

Although a fear of retaliatio

primary reson for making a
complaint to Human Resources, it does not appear that any acts of retaliation have taken place.

2. Clinger's alleged sexual

It*t
uncomfortable.

harassment

made a number of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Clinger that made her feel

a) Clinger made romantic advnces

Flumn Resources Director Kelly Leermn that Clinger made romantic advances on
her, and that she had told him she was not interested in a relationship with him.

Eaid

In her interview with Mercado,

that Clinger is "a very caring man," and that he
-o1d
cares" about staff members. Later in that
Mercado l^ur,Ltru *.,'rfr*,
"genuinely
Clinger looked at her in a way that made her uncomfortable.
also said that Clinger doesn't care
about her', and that o'it's all about him."

disrespectfully.Iindicated tbat Clinger would look

lecherous in the way he

teatedf

atfin

said that Clinger treated

a "leering" mtner and

was
82

*itnfand

Clinger dsnied any inappropriate relationship

said thathis
was 'rofessional only." He sad that any allegation that he rnde a.dvanees an
untrue."

withher
"absolutely

had sent him solisitous texts in January of 2016 without any

provocation from Clinger (see Section IViC) above). He had provided that text exchange to Mercado, who
attached it to her investigative report. In the **shaog*,f
appeared to be offering to travel to
Washington, D.C., to spend time with Clinger, who was already there on a business *ip. She told him she
Clinger said that

was missing hirn and imagined Clinger teaching her things.

&om

he was "caught off guard" by the terts, since he hadn't received any flirtatious texfs
to that occasion. His responses in the text exchange are far less flirtatious thaa

When confronted about the texts by Mercado,

apparently admifted she had participated
rn
and felt the need to send the texts because Clinger was generally uuesponsive.
attomey, trVilliam Peterson, Esq., wrote in correspondence to the City Atromey that
admitted that she initially participated in a flrtatious exchangs" \ith Clinger, but that she
did so because of a belief that flirting with Clinger was o'a condition to suscess" for women in Clinger's
offi.ce. Mark Mausert, Esq., aiso an attorneyforf
in correspondence to the City Attomey dated
October 1A,2016 and designed to outline his cle..-ts' attegations, explainrd Itexts
as her way
of responding "to his predatory advances in a way which did not alienate him.'
Clinger provided this investigation with a histo,ry of text messages between he andJfrom
October 12,2016 to July 22, 2Q16. There are well over a fhousard text messages over that span. Other
than the exchange in January of 2016 referenced above, there are few if any texts that suggest either a
firmantic relationship or Clinger's atfempts to foster one.

The flirtatious text exchange in January of 2A is not preceded by any text that suggest any
romanfio behavior. The exchange in question begins at approximately 9:25 p,m., and seven earlie texts
that day only deal with professio* *utt"r, (excepi for onJ*blowing kiss" **o.i rot uyJ
t"
first texts sent following ttre January 20 exchnge are sent on January 22 and don't reference the
"flirtatious" exchange in any mnner. These new texts are professional in nature.
Some of the text

Clinger: What's

2:15 attorneplf
1:30 first floor

Afterwards

r" on one?

fMarch 22,2A16, texts, Bates CLI-00088]

no

There is no context to this exchange, and limitless innocent explanations exist to justi/ it. There is
text from Clinger in respcnse to
last text. Its significance is likely trivial, except to
83

recognize that if roles were reversed and Clinger had sent a text saying, o',4,fterwards Andrew one on one?"
it would likelybe eonstrued forpurposes of fhese allegations as an advance cn his part.

More ticatr are texts of mufual ptofessionl support bglgeen _lQliAgsr and
On
February t, 2t16, following a lengthy exchange dealing'*ith I
*otk with media ona
demolition issue in the CitX these texts are sent:

Let's circle up with Alex to get more clarifcation on what the downside is

Clinger: Can we do that first thing in the moming and then make a decision
Deal!

Clinger: You ae arnazing btw

Ha! As long

as u

think so...

Clinger: I do
And it is vice vers

Clinger: I could be a better boss

Clinger: Still working on it
We can always work..,But I am really happy w/ your boss skills and the fact that you
care to improve makes rrro rilanna fight for ya more, U have a very tough job. Give yourself
crsdit! ! ! !

Clinger: No ote is halder tn me that I am. I want to be the best boss ever, not just
What you have dons w

a good boss

is dang impressive!

Clinger: You did it ali. You've done such an amazng job. I knew it needed to change but you
made it happen

I am hee and foilowing your lead 100%

Clinger: I know you are and it
[February

l,

mans the

world to me. \ilant to take it to the next level

2Al 6 texts, Iiates CLI-00063-64]

Again, context is missing to Clinger's last text, but otherrvise these texfs are typical of what appears
to be a successful professional relationship behveer the City Manager and the
for the City.
Thera is very limited evidencs that Clinger made mmantic advances onf
once again, it
not
interviewed
for
was
this investigation, and therefore has not
provided context for texts or explanations of conduct. Based on the information available, the evidence
does nat establish that Clinger made romantic advances on

is necessary to note that

84

b) Clinger

too"hedZneelc

in City elevator

In hen original cornplaint to Human Resources,Idescribed an incident onMarch 24,

2t16, in which Clinger touched herneck inappropriately in a City elevator.
said that after a contentious
with
asked
all right.
said she was
by Clinger, who had not bee,lr present at the meeting. lnside the
she was all rieht. At this point, Clinger reached ove sboked the
with his fingers several times, and said, "If she gets red right here, she is not
everyone else chuckled and she left the elevator, humiliated and embarrsed.

fEas

three

okay."

teermao,Isaid

According to Human Rsources Director Kelly

that the elevator touching
wa$ not sexual in nature but instead was condescending. Similarly, she told Mercado that she ddn't view
Clingeros conduct as sexual in nature, but saw it as disrespectfirl.
opinion of the nture of the conduct is furthcr amplied by her email to Mercado the
day afier her interview for Mercado's investigation:

"It is my understanding

that the orginal sexual harassment complaint was filed by someone

else and now your limited scope and my ancillary stories of potential retaliation and hostile work
envirorunent concems has landed me a primary spot in a sexual harassment investigation, which
was nevsr my intent."

Iapparently

did not construe Clinger's actions inthe elevator as being sexual innature.

Clinger denied touchiag

in the elevator. He recalls the conversation but sad, 'othere's
no way" he touched her neck in the manner she has alleged.

A review of the text messages between Clinger urrdlshows

24,2016, the date of the alleged incident, and the following monring:

the following texts on March

Clinger You ok? 13124116,8:34 p.m.l

We can talk tomorrow. I just finished
shot. [3/25/16, 6:59 a.m.]

That was a cheap

[March 24 and25,2016 texts, CLI-00089]

Thereaenoothertextst@explainanyadditiona1context,butitsuggeststhatClinger
said (or did) something that rrpr*t

,""u,,*
conduct from

-i:"ffH#tffiH!H:":J;

Clinger,lclearly recall it becauselwould

bave taken immediate action.

8s

the elevator,
anything

uboutl

also recalls the meetins and the conversation that ensued aftcrwards. On
Ciinger saying that
angry, but does not recall Clinger saylng
neck or touching her in any way.

ftooked

It is evident that something

The independent eyewitnesses did
not been
interviewed in this investigation to provide context to her ..cheap shot" text to Clinger, or to describe
exactly what upset her. She toid Leerman and Mercado that the touching was Rot sexual in nature. Clinger
has denied the touching and his version is supported by eyewitness fsstimqny. At this poirit, insufficient
evidence exists to substantiate that Clinger
in the elevator in March of
2016.

c) Clinger

tourhudfleg

at Cofe Bar restaurant

to Human Resources on July l, 2016,

the Coffee Bar restaurant.
not to
sit next to Clinger, but he patfed an ernpty seat next to him and wged her to sit there.
awkwardly complied, and while seated there Ciinger out his hand on my thigh and rubbed his hand up and
down my leg several tirnes, much longer than it would take to feel the fabric." Iorc,c.nce
Campos-Mercado that Clinger commented on her leggings and when she sat down, he rubbed thern longer
than necessary to feel the fabric.
her

As stated previously, Leerman said that

primary reascn for

out Human
Resources was for protection against re"taliation after uncovering
Leerman that she didn't view Clinger's conduct at the Coffee Bar as sexual in natue- but
thought instead that Clinger was "being controlling."

ftold

Isaid

she

toldlabout

the incident but decided not to report

it at that time.

female staffmember
Bar approximately two weeks later. To
doesn't

recall
He doesn't deny that he
sit in, but he adamantly denies repeatedly touching
happened, evr."

have

a chair next to him for

leg in the manner alleged.

to

"ft never

.4'reviewofthetextmessagesbetrveenfandClingershownotextsonMayl3,l4or15,
2A16, between them. The next texts between thern occur on May 16, 2016 (three days after the alleged
touching):

only found out tonigirt. I am so caught offguard.

Life is so short. Have a great break this weekl May peace find you for a few days.

Clinger: On my way back

Great newsl Call me???
86

[May 16,2016 texts, Bates CLI-00121]

There are no texts that discuss any inapproprte conduct by Clinger at the Coffee Bar days earlier.

Itisdifficu1ttoreconci1ethisevent,giventhelimitedevidence.-andIescribea

simiiar event, ttrough Inot",

, ,"*n vent thatlao"r
*r clitrgar d"rri thr *ent, but
doesn't
reoall that particular meeting, and no other witnesses have come forwad to confirm the
event.
to Kelly Leenna
the incident but
't witness the conduct herself

thutltotdlof

Based on the foregoing, it would be reasonable to find that Clinger touched

leg for the
purpose she originally described, to apparently feel the fabric of her leggings. It is not unreasonable to
conclude tt
thought he spent too much time doing so, thereby makiag her uncomfortable.
"I
Hor,ever, the investigatiou of this evert more than any otber, suffers from the lack of access to interview
lne,re nas Deen no opporhrnity to fu1ly exnine her version of events or to allow her to explain
I
cefiin inconsistencies. As a result, a finding that Clinger
at the Coffee Bar could only
be preliminaf,y and not conclusive. There is no evidsnce of any sexual intent, *
"o*I
disavowed that in hor discussions with Kelly Leerman and Alice Campos-Mercado. There
is insufficient
evidence to find that Clinger touchedlf
on a second occasion at te Coffsc Ear, asfallcgcs.

d) Use of the Telegram texting app

hl

March of 2t16, Clinger

phones. This platform
allowed for textine within the network of staff such that the texts would not later be recoyerable or
traceable. I
downloaded the app at Clinger's request but didn't use it. liV'eeks later, Clinger
discovered a netry texting app called Telegram, which had the same features but also allowed for texts to
disappear after being read. Clinger only askedJand
him downlcading it.
she?ownloa tne app onty
her to. She
said she began to get "flirly and sexually inappropriate" texts from Clinger, She said she felt compelled to
respond.
that
asked her to text him
ofher but she never did, She told
Mercado that on ApnlZZ,20L6
any more
deleted the app and told Clinger not to
asked

uffiger,

Isaid

her
In his interview, Clinger acknowledged asking staft rne,rr:.bers to first download a texting appiicafioa
called Slack, and later Telegram. He said that staff members found Slack cumbersome to use, which is
why Clinger found Telegram. He also acknowledges that only he,I*dldownloaded
Telegram, at his direction. Clinger said that he never sent "flirty" texts on Telegram and never asked
to send him a photo. He
sent him an unsolicited, suggestive photo of
herself using Telegram, but he has long since deleted the app and can't recover the photo. He is aware that
a govemrnent official using an application that allows for texts to disappear is unwise, and makes it
impossible to corroborate anyone's version of the texts that were scnt.

saidthatl

It is also not clea how frequrtly Telegram was used as a texting app. It apparently did not replace
normal cellular phone texting during March and/or April of 2tI6, when it was being used. The text
message history between Clger uIr
example, saw no deease in the number of texts
exchanged in Msrch and April of 2016, compared to other months. Similarly, the text messag history
between Clinger

end-hows

no significant decrease in use during that time period.

87

told Mercado that

rneeting well. She said she
texts to her.

went tc Clinger and told hirn that hc had not handled the
told Clingei'that she had deleted Telegram aad to respect her and stop sending
no texts
first text is from Clinger, where he forwards a story
at 7:4 a.m,:

You beat me...I was letting you sleep in

Clinger: [winking emoji]

lApril 23.2016

texts, Bates CLI-00098]

Thereafter, the texts continue in a normal and professional maner. Nothing indicates that a
confrontation occurred or that Clinger acted unprofessionally in any marmer,
The evidence is undisputed that Clinger uuk"d-at
the City to uss an application
that would allow for text messages to be beyond public scrutiny. Human Resources Director Kelly
Lee"rnaa and City Attorney Karl Hall expressed some shock that a
ofcial would
ever recornmend the use of such
Most
was asked to download
Slack, but
(with Clinger) were asked to download Telegram. In
the wake of the allegations and
cost
his posifion as City Manager, Clinger acknowledges
ihat hjs use of Telegran in this manner looks suspicious.

oniyfand

None of the alleged texts sent using Telegram were preserved in any way, and all of the individuals
who downloaded Telegram have sinc deleted it. There is no reasonable method to resolve the conflicting
versions of texts sent or not
if Clinger sent
flirttious texts
of those eveirts
would be c-onsistent with the overwhelming majority of the texts sent to one another from October of 2015
until July of 2016.
Unfortunately, this is an issue that cannot be resolved in this investigation, due to a lack of evidenco
of either version.

e) Clinger

first made her complaint to Human Resources on July I,2016, and inte"viewed with
Mercado on July 11,20 16. On July 12, she sent the ernail to Mercado that,
other things, stated that
she had not ntended on
involved in a sexual harassment

88

claimed that this \/as one

not singled out

he was unavare that the investigation included a complaint om
retalating against her.

tonc"**

Although
evidEnce

are not unreasonable, there is no

Iltrt

was sent as a

noted that of July 8,

therefore he could not be

) Theftfrom

z}rc/f.reported

on July 29,
in an ulocked credenza in her

office.

the theft of case-r'elated d.osumffrts from a manila

the theft to

She

not tum

the documents as o'critical to the events

first media coverage of allegations of sexual harassment against

up evidence

going on."
the CityManager

talked to

several weeks later and

also said

the theft to local police.

of the theft.Ialso
not reported the theft

thatlspoke with

recommended that
report the matter to police.
because she "just wanted everything to go away."

tuidltold

Clinger
to file a police report.

him about the alleged theft. Clinger said he

totdlto trtll

Evenfually, a police report was filed and, to avoid any confiicts, the investigation \ryas undertaken
by the
County Sheriffs Offce. Detective Robert Markin is currently investigating the case. As of
the date of this report, Marlcin has not completed his investigation.
'Washoe

said that

after the

contacted

and

asked which

days earlier.
sent an email to

the alleged theft.

gave thern to

Leerman

cut the fact

simlar case-related documents to

one day before
(and later to Clinger).

I*dI

The investigation of this criminal matter is in the hands of the Washoe County Sheriffs
eparhnent, md this investigation will not supplant the ofcial police investigation. At this point,
however, this nvestigation has not generafed evidence of a suspect in the theft.
B9

Tke Soncertd ats of the ccmplingnts $d gthes

1. Clinger's allegation of a conspiracy

Clinger has not only denied the allegations made against hirn, but he has
to
a
City Manager. Clinger believes that the three complainants,
ro maKe compreulrs sgarnsr nrm. Further, he aileges that
and Councilwoman Naorni Duerr were also part af a concerted effort to remove him.
Although he knows that Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus also wanted him out, he does not know if she
collaborated with the complainants. Clinger points to a number of pieces of evidence to justifu his
accusations.

told
-uonsprrso

three
between
was in place to
the plan

that prior to the

filing of the complaints,

Duerr to

case-related documerrts to
to
wiress"
alluding to "oul' strategy"
believed that these actions constituted a coordinated effort to discredit Clinger.

air attempt

in

On at
prsence. She also told

wa.s part

said

took place
that a

thatlhad

of the plan.

toldfabout

thc complaints

tutE

had made against Clinger,

Ciinger said he's aware that

Manager. Some evidence uncovered during this

rnewal,

anry with him

and wanted him out as City

supports that claim.

prior to the June 21, 2016, City Council meeting to consider Clingst" conhact
witb at least four Council members to communicafe her anger at Clinger over

not supporting

Council members Duerr,

Jenny Brekhus, Neorna Jardon and David Bobzien said that
them to describe her
&ustrafion with Clinger. Council members Paul McKenzie and Oscar Delgado each
attempted to set up appoin{ments to speak with them before Clinger's annual evaluation, but for vaious
reasons neither actually met with her. It appears thutlwas
canvassing the Council with negative
information about Clinger, although she didn't tell any Council member (other than Duerr) about any acts
of potential sexu,l harassment.

saidthatJ

before

the July 29 2t7

walked by,

As

she

told him, "I hate AndrewClinger."

also described a

conversationlhad

witll

io rqrd:jgly of 2016. An upset

Clinger, "I hate him. I hate him. I fucking hate him.

angry with Clinger for making her work late.

II

90

said he believes that

wanted her friend

Clingerwas removed.

and

to

is based upon his ciose

as well as what Clinger desclibcd as

with both

Clinger were removed as

r*:

conversations with at least some of the

having had conversations wi
Hrnan Resources Director Kelly Leerman said
on June 29,

prior to the complaints being filed.

at least

about

following
had ongoing conversations with
had ongoing conversations and

t**tr

*ithJ

"driving the bus" on the allegations against Clinger.

Kelly Leennan and Councilrnan David Bobzien, noted
frustration with Clinger as City Manager. Bobzien describedlas one of Brekhus' "chosen fe\ry
favored"
and Bobzien uoted (and Brekhus confirmed) that Brekhus supported
when Clinger voluntarily went oa adminiskative leave during this

Othetrs, including Councilwoman Brekfrus,

investigation.

of deieting text messages occurred on or just before July 25, 2tL6, or within days after
delivery of the
MErcado investigation re,port and just before the
hold letter. This deletion effectively prevents
review of any text communications between
the tirne period
just before the complaints \rere filed and during the first investigation.
recognized that this is an
uncamfortable coinsidence, given the allegations of a conspiracy to reove Clinger.

In support of the conspiracy theory, Clinger also points to the statei.ents of Olive Crove consultant
,A'nthony Tansimore, who said that his interviews rcveled that cerlain Council members were out to get
Clinger. In this investigation, Tansimore indicated that Councilwomen Brekus and Duerr had formed a
'ocabl" against Clinger. Tansimore also said th*t
the two City anployees
displag the most anger toward Clinger when Tansimore interviewed City staff members in May and
June of 2016. Tansimor was unaware that
cornplainauts in this case.

Iuodlwere

Clinger said thaf he's aware that Councilwomar Duerr

prior to the filing of the
complaint and he believes Duerr encouraged
against Clinger. This
investigation has uneafihed evidence that Duerr had advance knowledge of at least some of the complaints
made
In her interview, Duerr was somewhat evasive on the issue of \ryhen she knew about
allegations of being touched inappropriately by Clinger'. Initially, she claimed that
did not give her that information prior to the June 21 Council meeting to discuss Clinger's
evaluation, and that it rvasn't the impetus for Duen' saying at the meeting that there was "feat" amng
91

femalemanagers.Later,shesaidthatsheto1dMayorSehieveuboutth"fsexulharassment
allegation, and that it was one of the reasons why the Mayor called the June 22, 2A16 meeting to discuss
sexual harassment.

In fact, evidence strongly suggests that Duerr knew of

bef.ore the June 21

on June 16,zt| 6. Mayor Schieve
touched inappropriately by Clinger on the night of
after the June 22 sexuai harassment meeting, the
Mayor told him that she heard disturbing things about Ctiager om Councilwoman Duer.

Due,rr may have also known about other complaints before they were filed.

thutfirud

toldlin

confidence about a meeting attended by the

fsaid

tlree

complainants and

Duerr before the complaints were filed.

Counciknen McKenzie said that he had a convsrsation with Duerr before Clinger's perfiomrance
review, during which Duerr said that sorne City employees had concerns about Clinger. McKenzie said
Duen told him that if
s contract
certain staffmembers might leave City govenrment,
including
did not tell McKenzie how she
unhappy with Clinger. McKenzie also said that Duerr told him that
unhappy witb Clinger as well.

*d-Duerr

Additionally
that Duerr met with her prior to Clinger's
performance evaluation, seeking information to use against Clinger at the meeting. Duerr denied having

metwithf

is not alone in suspecting that the complainants collaborated wth others before filing the
complaints.
said the
was created by'oa four person conspiracy" consisting of
the three complainants and
womn Neoma Jardon said she has "suspicions" but'ho
definite proof' of
Councilman Oscar Delgado called it a likely "consolidated effo" to get
Clinger ouf as City Manager. Delgado said he's aware
City employees thatJ
Bobzien said he believes it's possible that certain individuals
encouraged the complainars to file complaints against Clinger "to create leverage or a mutual benefit."

thatJold

2. Collaboration of Meritorious Complaints

For purposes of this investigation, it is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of conspiracy
and collaboration. Clinger alleges that the complainants (and others) conspired against him to use false
claims
to have him removed &om office. It is the perpetuation of allegedly false claims that Clinger said is
-CounciknanDavid
the object of the conspiraoy. Howeve if the complainants collectively decided to file meritorious
complaints against Clinger at roughly the same time, the fact that tley acted in a concerted fashion doesn't,
of itself, make their complaints illegitirnate. Likewise, even if others urged the complainants to act on
these meritorious claims at roughly the same time, those efforts don't necessarily affect the truthfuless of
the complaints.

It is vkhrally

impossible fo conclude that the

of

acted
and

where
saying that

one

are nearly
does not, but
told her about
92

t.

Both complained of the uncomforfable

included an allegation that Clinger and

gnvironment
involved in a relationship.

claims are different in subsfance but are made at the same tirne
include
incident that

Both even

as

corroborated some facts surrounding the Coffee Bar

As set forth above, it is impossible not to conciude that the complaints were coordinated in time and
sirnila enough in substaace to reflect that the complainants communicated'itl one another (and/or others)
befoe they filed with Human Resources. However, as also set forth above, some of the primary
complaints were not false claims.

It is

environment was highly sbessfil and uncomfortable

ses Section VIl)@. Her complaint regarding this issue is therefore
discomfort is generally indirect, her description of the environment that
is largely substantiated.

primary original complaint was to seek protection from possible retaliation

to Kelly Leennan,f
didn't come to Human Resowces to make
cornplaints about being touched
Her cirief
was the fact that Clinger
didn't appear to back her when
she feared
retaliation when Clinger
told herthat Clinger had told
rssue,
that
Whether ustified or not in
retaliatiorq it
faceand
past, and City Attorney Karl Hall indicated that
supported her when she brought the issue to light.

Less significantly, botltl*dlalso

indicated that Clinger did not allow them to
to
speak
Council members. Mayor Schieve, Councilwomn Duerr and Kelly Leerman each corroborated

this claim.
These are legitimate claims brought by the complainants. They do not appear to be "false" claims,

at least subj!4lvgly.__IlEe is little doubt thatlqqq

made uncomfo*able by her work

rhere is also little doubt thutlfeared
retaliation. snrether either of
these complainants was jwtified in their feelings is open to some interpretatior, but the existence of their
concenx is not.

environmentl

As of June of 2016, these concems were prevalent.

had been

were pursung
ISSUe
ovenvhelming evidence
investigation, both
angy
point
with Clinger at this
taken it upon herself to speak with at least four mernbers
in time.
two more) prior to the June 21 Council meeting to consider
of the Council (and attempted to
Clinger's contract renewal. She had also told many others of her dislike for Clinger.

as

City Manager at that point in time.

-*dIwerenottheon1yonesapparentlyunhappywithClinger'sperformauce

93

A number of Council members were displeased as well. Councilwoman Brekhus had long since
deterrnined that Clinger was not qualified for the job. Councilwoman Duerr thought Clinger was
'tnproductive" and "ineffective" as Cify Manager. She noted that Clinger's evaluation scores
om the
She was also canvassing other City employees

ry

and also thought that Ciinger sometimes 'layed ne \troman off on nother." CounciLnan McKenzie
didn't cae for Clinger's management and leadership style and said Clinger blamed others for not getting
things done. Olive Grove consultant Anthony Tansimore said that after his interviews with Councl
members, he determined that all of them had coacluded that Clinger was not a good City Manager.
Other wihesses detailed Clinger's perceived shoitcomings as City Manager.
whi complimentary of Clinger personally, called the City office environment the o'mosf

unprofessional"

r;#ir-.,i,i#:i'lff
i:r,:i;f ::n'l::"*::ilil'*i:
ilif
bad City manager. Leerman said Clnger wasn't interesfed in what individual
were doing for
eanployees

the City, and that many

saffmembers thought th Clinger was

a'terrible leader."

Nearly every witness interviewed on the subject agreed that Clinger's use of the Slack and
Telegrarn texting platforms was ertirely inappropriate for City government. Clinger said he now
appreciates that the use of these applications was inconsistent with transparency in governme,rt,
Given atl of this infonnation, and the lcrowledge that as many as three Council members were
it is safe to assume that some City employees
expected the City Council to take action against Clinger at the June 21 meeting. Brekus, Duerr and
McKenzie were prepared to vote against renewing Clinger's contract, but all three realized that a deciding
fourth vote was not forthcoming. lnstead, all thee reluctantly joined the major in renelving Clinger's
contract as City fulanager.
prepared to vote against Clinger's contact being renewed,

Those City staff members r'ho

McKenzie said he

result

responded. Councilman
after the renewal vote.

According to Mayor Schieve, Duerr contacted her in the evening after the June 21 Council meetlng
and told the Mafor of Clinger's alleged sexual harassment ofl
That conversatior along with
two unelated incidents of mproper texts or communictions by City employees, prompted Mayor Schieve
to call the June 22 meettng to explain the City's sexual harassment policy. According to those in
attendance, the fact of the City's "zero tolerance" for sexual lurassment was fairly drivcn home. This
meeting provided a vehicle for certain City employees, with the help of others, to act against Clinger where
the City Council had failed to do so.
Councilwomar Duen said that the Counc's action in renewing Clinger with a 3Yaratse 'broke the
dam" and caused City staff members to take matters into their own hands. Councilwoman Brekhus said
she believes the compiainants acted in concerted efforf once the Council ageed to renew Clinger's
contract. Councilwoman Jardon said the timing of the complaints suggests the possibility that employees
tought, "if the Council isn't going to vote hirn out then we have to." Mayor Schieve said it appears that
the complainants took matte{s into their own hands when the Council renewed Clinger. Kelly Leerman
said that mny Cify employees thought Clinger was "a terrible leader and City Manager," but that the
Council didn't have the means to get rid of him.

94

lVithin a week after the lur 22 meeting, the first claim lvas lcdged, with the other two were fi1ed
very shortly thereafrer.

offanE

The primary claims

., as set forth above, legitimate claims to make.
However, the complaints add less reiiable and sometimes more sensational secondary accusations.

trde

the z}LS "gropi'rg" incident that she apparently heard but did not see- She also adds
Instead of relvine on the fact
alleged a sexual
both added that
Clinger was havirg a romantic or sexual relationship vith
when tbere was no
evidence whatsoever to
fhat clairn. Over
her attomey) added the
allegation of Clinger's

II

Imet

ouolbut

with Hurnan Resources fo report her fear of retaliatior,

then
proceeded to claim that the reson she feared retaliation from Clinger $ras that he keated her badly already.
To establish tha! she recounted the instances that Clinger atlegedly touched her.
rssues

interview, including that Clinger treated some

problem."

dr:ring!

"has a drinking

Nearly all of these secondary claims are made r.vith little or no evidence to support them. At best,
they ase recklessly made. t worst, they were designed to color the lens througb which the primary
complaints were considered. Either way, instead of defracting from the primary complaints, some of them
end up being fhe focus of the Mercado investigation.

It is difficult to detennine what effect

outside individuals, including Councilwoma Duerr and

had on the oomplanantsn especially without access to the complainants for individual
investigative interviews. While it could be argued that ore or both simply encouraged aggrieved
e,mployees to make valid complaints, it could also be argued that both uerr andltook steps to mask
their involvement in the complainants' decisions to file their complaints. Duerr was evasive as to when she
knew of
of sexual harassment, to the point of having to backack on priot
answefs.
of all xts to ando*Iandf
is, at least, an uncomfortabls
coincidence. At most, it was an act to conceal involvement with the cnmplainants during June and July cf
2016. It must be ncted that both Duerr and Iwere
opposed o Clinger remaining as C Manager
during this time period.

The secondary accusations helped mushrcom the totality ef slaims against Clinger beyond control.
This is nue ofltrwho
r*"ogiri""d early on-laim
was largely forgotten
because of her allegations of sexual harassment. As she wrote to Alice Campos-Mercado following her
interview for that investigation:

of the sexual harassment investigation, but rather was looking

"I never intended tobea
for retaliation protection
lega1 allegations I brought
forward to a few of the highest powers in our organization (City Manager, Chief of Police and City
Attorney).

It is my understnding that the original

sexual harassment complaint was filed by someone

your
limited scope and my ancillary stories of potential retaliation aud hostile work
else and no\ry
95

environrnent concems has larded me a primary spot in a sexual harassment investigation, which
was never my intent."
(See Appendix, Exhibit 3 (attached as exhibit to Mercado's Investigation Report)).

especially after Mercado

2916. That conontationo and the
rnayhave been a signicant event.

'I

Alicc Campos-Mercado that she didn't consider eithcr of the

She didn't want to be part of a sexual harassment allegation,
in July af 2O16 with her texts to Clinger sart in January of
that those texts could become public and be scrutinizod,

of

said she had a convcrsation

conversations with Mercado). With
wish this was all ove. It was never supposed to go this

2016

far." Aftsr the

had
Councilwoman Brekhus she
line" and "had played the game to get ahead."
Sqrtember,
and she told him, 'All I did was send Andrew Clinger one inappropriate text, There's more to it than that."

3ii;hffiitrffi*f;'investigationprevenlsconfrontationonthisissue.It
VII.

Cqqplusion

Almost all of the evidence generated in this investigation is consistent with the belief of many in the
City that the cornplaints were the result of three women acting in concert. It is likely that others, including
Councilwoman Naomi Duen, had advance knowledge of thornpleints and encouraged
I*d
Ire
to file. As set forth above, the primary complaintf of Iand
"ontplain-tr
meritorious. The secondary complaints are nostly without any factual basis and may have been included to
generate animosity torard Clinger to assure his demise as City Manager. Once the complaints were filed,
the three complainants continued to work together to try to conhol the message.

-e

Althoug the evidence strongly suggests that the women acted in concert in ling complaints, tbis
The
collaboration does not affect the merit of the primary complaints of
*d
parf
se;condary complaints, for the most
lack merit or simply camot be substntiated. Clinger's claim that
the cornplaints e evidence of a conspiracy to file entirely false claims is nat consistent with the totality of
the evidence, although some secondary olaims have little or no basis in fact.

-P-]V}gf
November 21,2016
Hon. David T. Wall, Ret"

96