County investigative committee shares findings on sexual harassment handling

Whatcom County Council’s three-member investigative committee released its findings on September 24 into how the county handled multiple sexual harassment complaints against former public works director Jon Hutchings.

The investigation – which committee members Ben Elenbaas, Todd Donovan, and Barry Buchanan said was intended to set a scope of work for future investigations, not a fact-finding mission – interviewed 14 current and former county employees for their perspectives on how the county mishandled sexual harassment complaints. The report showed employees lacked trust of HR, the committee recommended the county hire an outside consultant to continue the investigation, and the county make code revisions for how it pays out harassment claims.

County council previously approved $100,000 to fund an outside consultant to continue the investigation during its September 10 meeting.

The investigation revolves around a $225,000 settlement paid in November 2023 to a female county employee who reported Hutchings sexually harassed her in 2020 and 2021 while he ran the public works department. The payout was just under the $250,000 threshold for council to be notified, and media reports revealed Hutchings received a glowing letter of recommendation signed by county executive Satpal Sidhu and then-deputy executive Tyler Schroeder for his current position as public works director for the city of Lynden.

Committee members said during their September 24 committee of the whole meeting that their purview was not to find if any person or department needed to be held accountable.

The report outlined a general distrust of HR by county employees, and that Hutchings’ inappropriate behavior was an “open secret” to many in the county, including HR and the executive’s office.

“We heard that Dr. Hutchings’ behavior did not change over this period,” the report read.

The report found that those interviewed spoke of a general concern that HR is neither accessible nor effective, “both in terms of the perception of its office door often being locked, and due to challenges in having trust that matters brought to HR would be dealt with effectively or fairly.”

Employees from varying seniority levels expressed concern about the efficacy of harassment training, with some referring to it as “a joke,” the report stated. Upper level staff told the committee that they received hardly any training on what constitutes harassment and what reporting requirements exist.

Employees told the committee they were especially concerned about the letter of recommendation for Hutchings. The investigation found Hutchings requested the letter during the separation agreement discussions in November 2022, which was originally rejected before Hutchings asked again in January 2023, when executive Sidhu signed the letter.

Employees interviewed said they were concerned that the letter was a reflection of how higher-ups at Whatcom County government handled the matter.

“Some leaders, in the face of serious claims about harassment, made themselves appear overly concerned with and responsive to Dr. Hutchings and seemingly unconcerned with those employees who may be suffering harassment in the workplace,” the report stated.

During the committee of the whole meeting on September 24, the three-member committee reminded the public that its findings were not fact-checked, and represented the perspectives of various current and former county employees.

The interviews were conducted in person with Donovan, Buchanan and Elenbaas. The committee apologized for the months-long process, citing scheduling conflicts between the members and interview subjects for the delay. The investigative committee held its first meeting on May 14, and released its finding more than four months later.

“We regret this process has taken so long,” a September 24 memo from the committee read. “Scheduling three councilmembers and an interviewee during the summer months proved to be very challenging.”

In a September 24 letter to county employees, Sidhu said he took full responsibility for the situation, supported the investigation’s recommendations to examine harassment reporting policies, and said it was important to provide HR with more support.

“This has been a valuable learning experience for me,” Sidhu wrote. “I am committed to cooperating fully with council’s next steps and implement the recommendations from the council and the outside consultant. I assure you that we all want to see a culture of wellbeing and respect, an environment where each employee can thrive in their role at the county.”