Following an independent investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct and questionable leadership, Daniel Hardman will return to his positions with the Village of Lake Delton.
The Dells-Delton EMS and Delton Fire Commissions agreed Tuesday to a unanimous decision made a day before by the Village Board of Trustees to reinstate Hardman as the police chief and director of public safety effective Wednesday. After a two-plus month investigation by an outside law firm that included interviews with members of IAFF Local 5026, the union which issued a vote of no confidence against Hardman on Feb. 7, Hardman was cleared of any wrongdoing.
“In this case, I believe that a very fair and thorough investigation was done into the allegations against Chief Hardman and he was exonerated,” said Lake Delton Village Attorney Benoit LeTendre, of West & Dunn law firm.
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Local 5026 represents emergency medical technicians and paramedics working for Dells-Delton Emergency Medical Services. Stafford Rosenbaum LLP conducted the investigation, and attorney Ted Waskowski presented the findings orally to the Village Board during a closed session Tuesday.
“Ultimately, Ted Waskowski found one: Absolutely no evidence of criminal misconduct,” said LeTendre. “Second: There was no substantiating evidence related to any kind of sexual or workplace harassment. Accordingly, he recommended that no disciplinary action be taken.”
Attempts to reach Hardman for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.
LeTendre added that after extensive deliberations from the Village Board and the two commissions, the decision was made to fully reinstate Hardman to his positions.
“Sometimes he is a little abrupt and he can be harsh in his criticism at times, but nothing rising to the level of certainly sexual misconduct and certainly nothing rising to the level of actual workplace harassment,” LeTendre said.
The Village Board, in conjunction with the commissions, changed the grievance process for Dells-Delton EMS employees. All complaints will be addressed to the service’s director, Dillon Gavinski. Prior to the investigation, such complaints went to Hardman. If any availability conflicts arise with Gavinski, the complaints will go to Lake Delton village administrator Tim McCumber, and then village President John Webb if McCumber is not available.
Gavinski declined to comment on the reinstatement of Hardman.
“This is to avoid a lot of the friction that seems to exist between, right now, Dan Hardman and EMS,” said LeTendre. “He will no longer entertain or review those complaints and grievances.”
McCumber, after conversations with Waskowski and Gavinski, said that he anticipates employee departures from Dells-Delton EMS as a result of the decision to reinstate Hardman. He said the losses should be “minimal at best.”
“As far as the relationship with EMS, obviously, we have to work to rebuild their trust in the organization,” said McCumber. “At the same time, we’re giving them new avenues to address their grievances directly to the EMS director rather than Mr. Hardman to try and keep those internal to the department.”
Hardman was placed on paid administrative leave on Feb. 8 during an emergency meeting of the Village Board and the two commissions after a letter — signed by all 16 current Dells-Delton EMS employees — was released by IAFF Local 5026 President Spencer Nett detailing allegations of discrimination, harassment, sexism and unwanted physical touching in Hardman’s role as director of public safety.
Attempts to reach Nett for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.
“Even on face value, while the initial complaint somewhat caught us off guard, reading it, there was nothing there that would have risen to the level of needing to terminate the chief for any reason,” McCumber said. “One of the primary reasons we hired Stafford Rosenbaum was to make sure that we did not have a systemic or deeper problem we weren’t aware of.”
Another finding of the investigation were allegations of misconduct by Delton Fire Department Fire Chief Darren Jorgenson. With the findings, Jorgenson has been placed on paid administrative leave while another investigation by Stafford Rosenbaum LLP is conducted.
As director of public safety, Hardman oversees day-to-day operations of emergency medical and fire services for the local area along with his role as police chief.
