An investigation shows that allegations of a hostile work environment at the Montgomery County Planning Board are unfounded, according to County Council President Evan Glass.
County Executive Marc Elrich said he had not had a chance to look over the recent findings as of Wednesday morning, but wants to see who investigators spoke to and “how that matches up with who was complaining.”
The Washington Post reported the findings on Tuesday.
“In October 2022, the Council received allegations of a hostile work environment at the Montgomery County Planning Board,” Glass said in a written statement. “The Council takes all allegations of workplace harassment or discrimination extremely seriously and immediately forwarded these claims to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) for a full investigation.” M-NCPPC conducted an independent investigation with outside counsel.
“The investigation has concluded, and the Commission reports that the allegations of a hostile work environment are unfounded,” per Glass.
According to Glass, M-NCPPC shared, “There was no evidence of leadership creating a hostile, toxic or misogynistic work environment at Montgomery Parks, Montgomery Planning or the Montgomery County Planning Board.”
Last October, all five planning board members resigned after controversy and a vote of no confidence by the county council. The council had previously issued reprimands for former members Chair Casey Anderson, Vice Chair Partap Verma and Carol Rubin for inappropriate workplace conduct.
Anderson was reportedly accused of inappropriate workplace behavior and was docked pay for having a full bar in his Wheaton office and drinking with officials.
Five days ahead of the resignations, the board fired Planning Department Director Gwen Wright.
During a media briefing Wednesday, Elrich said he had questions about how the situation was handled.
“There’s no way there were five guilty people there that needed to be removed from the planning board,” he said.
Elrich said he takes issue with board violations of the Open Meetings Act, which he also mentioned in a written statement in October following members’ resignations. In the statement, he said the planning board had “been cited with multiple violations.”
The report found that leadership issues on the planning board “impaired employees’ sense of organizational stability” at the time, Glass shared from M-NCPPC. Recommendations, which M-NCPPC will review, include additional training for employees and commissioners and the development of policies outlining expectations for planning board members.
According to Glass, the council remains focused on appointing two board members in June.
