Suspended AG employee: "Ass and tits got you the job"

Trickle, trickle, trickle...

Yesterday, the Cleveland Free Times published a story that contained some of the most explicit details into the sexual harassament case that is plaguing Marc Dann.  Some lowlights?

Christmas Eve - that's when Vanessa Stout first became concerned about her job. While her boss, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, passed out coffee mugs to staffers, his wife, Alyssa Lenhoff, glared at Stout from across the room.

Stout worked in the General Services division of the AG's office in Columbus, inside Rhodes Tower, an intimidating structure of glass and black marble across the street from the Statehouse. A single mother with an 11th grade education, Stout's last job had been running the front desk at an Extended Stay. Working for the AG was the best job she'd ever had. The man who'd helped her get it, Anthony Gutierrez, was a close friend of Dann's. The men lived near each other in Youngstown and shared an apartment outside Columbus. So Stout asked Gutierrez why Alyssa was giving her the stink eye.

Stout would later claim that Gutierrez told her that Alyssa Lenhoff had recently discovered that Dann was having an affair with his scheduler - and that, when confronted, Dann had admitted that Gutierrez and their other roommate, the AG's communications director, Leo Jennings, were also cheating on their spouses. And now Lenhoff apparently assumed that Stout was sleeping with Gutierrez - and Lenhoff wanted her and the scheduler transferred out of the building.

In reference to the now infamous Sept. incident:

A few days after the incident, the complaint says, she confronted Gutierrez and asked what he had done to her when she was passed out. He told her he hadn't done anything, but then said, according to Stankoski, "I wanted to fuck you." When she asked him why he had hired her in the first place, Gutierrez said, "ass and tits got [you] the job." 

Then, after repeating much of what we had already heard:

Gutierrez made unwanted advances on Stankoski almost daily, Elliott claims. Then, apparently growing tired of being rejected, he transferred Stankoski to another job - she was told it was a promotion, but Elliott says it wasn't - and hired Vanessa Stout in her place.

Immediately, Elliott says, Gutierrez shifted his attention to Stout. He started with the invites for drinks after work, but quickly escalated to more offensive behavior. One day, he called Stout and said she should come over to the apartment because he had a present for her. "Vanessa is very concerned by now, so she brings a friend with her," says Elliott. "He doesn't say anything for awhile. But when they get ready to leave, he says, "Hold on.' He goes into his bedroom and comes back with a purple dildo in a gift bag. Vanessa says, "Do you want me to thank you or tell you to fuck off?' She leaves and throws the dildo away. At work, Gutierrez keeps bringing it up. "I bought you a present, I think I'm entitled to see you use it,' he tells her."

And here's ODP chairman Chris Redfern's statement:

"No one has accused Marc Dann of doing anything illegal. No one has accused Marc Dann of being a bad AG. Look at his accomplishments, already. You know what they're accusing him of? Having bad friends. As soon as this report comes out, you'll see terminations of employees who have done things that are inappropriate. Then, Dann will have the opportunity to chart his own course for the rest of his term.""No one has accused Marc Dann of doing anything illegal. No one has accused Marc Dann of being a bad AG. Look at his accomplishments, already. You know what they're accusing him of? Having bad friends. As soon as this report comes out, you'll see terminations of employees who have done things that are inappropriate. Then, Dann will have the opportunity to chart his own course for the rest of his term."

Fine, Mr. Chairman , then let me be apparently the first.  Dann is a bad AG, and this is worse than just having bad friends.  This is a culture that treats women employees as sexual objects.  This is a hostile work environment.  And how can any citizen who has been a victim of sexual harassment have any confidence knowing that their case could be represented by this office once the Ohio Civil Rights Commission makes a finding of a violation of our state and federal sexual harassment laws. 

We can't wait for Dann to fire people after the report comes out (it was supposed to come out this week, apparently, they're waiting to dump it tomorrow in the hopes that it wouldn't get as much coverage?)  Guiterrez and Jennings must be fired.  What are we waiting for?

Dann has to go, too.  I'm sorry, but Dann ignored too many red flags and his personal involvement in creating this kind of environment in the first place.  He is the head of the office and the buck stops with him.  We can't just call for the heads of Guiterrez and Jennings and think that kind of purge is enough to put it all behind us.

Dann personally told Guiterrez to hire Stout, and Guiterrez preyed on Stout's lack of qualifications as an opening to permit him to seek sexual favors.  We are wayyyyy beyond just the actions of one of two employees who just happen to be senior aides who are incredibly close to Dann.  We're beyond just Bob Packwood territory.  We're looking at a Tailhook scandal where there was a systematic environment in which female subordinates were viewed and treated as sexual playthings that owed their superiors for being hired despite their qualifications.

I'm disgusted by this.  I'm ashamed of this.  And I'm outraged that Marc Dann betrayed the people of Ohio, our party, and his family by this.

Fire Jennings and Guiterrez and then yourself, Marc Dann!  Do it if you have any actual respect for the office you hold, for the people of Ohio, for your party.  Just go away!

(Incidently, if there is anyone out there who disagrees with me, I'd love to hear it.  I've looked around for any sign on the blogsphere that anyone still supports Dann.  I don't see it.)