Complaint to Gianforte about PSC President Molnar will proceed

Keila Szpaller

(Daily Montanan) A call on the governor to temporarily suspend Public Service Commission President Brad Molnar will continue despite an attempt from Molnar to rescind it — but with support from staff to hold firm on the complaint against him.

Wednesday, commissioners voted 3-to-2 against a motion from Molnar to pull back a complaint PSC Vice President Jennifer Fielder made to Gov. Greg Gianforte.

The letter asked the governor to suspend the president while an investigation into allegations of professional misconduct proceeds.

Commissioner Randy Pinocci supported Molnar’s motion to recall the letter, but Fielder and Commissioners Annie Bukacek and Jeff Welborn opposed the rescission.

Fielder, who wrote the complaint to the governor on behalf of an internal “response team,” said she did not want to write the letter, and in fact, had counseled Molnar one-on-one on his behavior for months.

But Fielder said the team decided to ask the governor to intervene after it received substantiated evidence Molnar had engaged in retaliation.

Fielder said Molnar’s disruptions included a threat to “take out” anyone involved in filing complaints against him, and she said he has been untruthful and dismissive about the allegations against him.

The PSC has characterized the allegations as complaints of “unprofessional conduct.”

At the meeting Wednesday, Fielder also said they include allegations of sexual harassment, which could be jokes, slurs or innuendo.

Fielder said Molnar had repeatedly interfered with the investigation — attempting to undo a contract with a firm the PSC had hired and denying payment of bills.

She also said Molnar refused to meet with the team unless it was on his terms. Fielder said his tactics have created delays, even though it aims to complete its work.

“There’s a big obstacle in our ability to do that,” said Fielder, also acting chairwoman of the team. “That obstacle is President Molnar. And so we are trying to remove that obstacle for a temporary time period so that we can complete our work.”

Molnar has denied interfering in the team’s work and said his public calls for due process are not retaliation but protected speech. He also said he told a joke but did not see any sexual innuendo in it and has mocked the title of the head of the PSC as inflated — president instead of chairman.

“That doesn’t mean the governor can overturn an election. It doesn’t,” Molnar said.

The governor and all five commissioners are Republicans.

Staff members expressed support for Molnar’s experience — he served on the PSC from 2005 to 2012 before taking office again in January — but pleaded for commissioners to allow the letter to the governor to stand.

PSC staff member Patricia Trooien said employees have voiced complaints about Molnar’s conduct, and staff have a right to be heard as well as their confidentiality protected.

Trooien said she believes the investigation should continue with full cooperation from Molnar.

“I have personally seen your good heart, and I believe you have the capacity to be empathetic, compassionate and fair,” Trooien said. “Your refusal to participate in the investigation is causing damage to you, those around you and this agency.”

She said Molnar has an obligation to take full responsibility for his actions and for the perceptions of his actions.

“I ask you to please take ownership of your actions by participating in the investigation,” Trooien said.

PSC Executive Director Alana Lake also weighed in on the matter — but said it was the last thing she wanted to do.

Lake said Molnar’s experience adds “immense value” to the agency, and she respects his commitment to the people he serves.

But Lake said she values transparency and due process, and even a commissioner is not above the law.

Despite Molnar’s statements to the contrary, Lake said she and other managers took steps to initially address complaints against Molnar at the “lowest levels” possible and with multiple internal counseling sessions.

But she said those less formal attempts failed, and the situation escalated.

She said Molnar told her directly that he would “take out” anyone involved in the process against him and said he had hired a lawyer and private investigator to “go after these individuals.”

“There were no other options than to seek outside investigative support to address the issues,” Lake said.

The PSC retained outside counsel and contracted with a management and communications firm for up to $10,000 for the investigation.

Lake also said retaliation has continued and grown during the past few months, which is one of the reasons for the suspension request.

“I have exhausted all the tools I have as the chief of staff to protect our staff and commissioners from retaliation,” Lake said.

Additionally, Commissioner Annie Bukacek said a “reasonable person” could believe that holding a press conference as Molnar did would discourage witnesses from coming forward.

Molnar announced the investigation to the public in a press conference in July and raised concerns about due process then. He has waived his privacy rights in the matter.

Bukacek also said complaints were lodged against Molnar before June or July — she said she personally made a complaint “several months” earlier.

In her comments, Fielder reviewed the recent history of the workplace climate at the Public Service Commission. Audits had identified numerous problems.

Fielder said the PSC had made progress, but even just a year and a half ago, an audit said staff were concerned about the effectiveness of a new structure.

“Particularly, the audit noted that staff were concerned about management’s ability to address inappropriate behavior in the department,” Fielder said.

She said the agency is obligated to stop inappropriate behavior to both act responsibly and protect staff and to protect itself from liability.

Commissioner Welborn led the meeting, and at one point, he asked Molnar if he would be willing to voluntarily place himself on administrative leave — “that kind of thing can be a tough pill to swallow.”

But Welborn said it would satisfy the desire of the response team to move forward without interference, and it would allow the agency to take care of its own matters without involvement of the Governor’s Office.

In response, Molnar suggested Fielder should place herself on leave for policy errors.

Molnar said he couldn’t leave 200,000 people in his district without representation, and he wouldn’t silence their voices in a current rate case that’s under consideration.

He also said he does not believe he has hampered the investigation — and he doesn’t plan to do so in the future.

“I’m under a microscope now. Would I purposefully do something to impede an investigation?” he asked.

He said the letter to the governor is invalid without a public meeting and without four votes calling for suspension. Molnar also called on his fellow commissioners to follow the policies they were pressing him about.

“I’m tired of being vilified,” Molnar said.