West CheStel? Inferoffice - Memorandum



To:

Capt. Joseph Gu?rman

From: Lisa Brown, Assistant Township Administrator

Date: July 20, 2020

RE:

Performance Improvement Plan

 

Introduction.

As you are aware, West Chester Township has concluded its internal investigation of both the
complaints of retaliation that former Capt. Jamie Hensley and you raised in letters submitted to the
Township Administrator in February and March of this year and a range of other issues presented
by two years of conflict and dysfunction within the command staff of the West Chester Police
Department. As you review your performance evaluation for 2019, this document will set forth
expectations for your performance as police captain going forward. It is important at the outset to
state two, key principles that guide the directives in this plan:

(1)

(2)

You have enormous capabilities and talents as a police of?cer and police captain. That
is why Chief Herzog recommended you and the Board of Trustees appointed you to
your position. The evaluation re?ects that. While neither you nor anyone else is
entitled to a glowing, perfect evaluation, you are entitled to an honest one?and this
evaluation reflects those gifts, talents, and abilities. We hope and expect that you will
build on this with the command staff team in the coming months and years.

Over the past two years, however, the con?ict and dysfunction within the command
team has done considerable damage to the Police Department, and it will end. That
means signifi cant changes in your own interpersonal relationships within the command
team and the clerical staff that supports it. These are expectations that we do not intend
to negotiate or debate with you or anyone else, including your attorney. You will either
meet these expectations and continue to grow and thrive here, or you will not, in which
case the disciplinary process will remove you from employment. This is not a ?threat,?
this is not ?retaliation,? and no letters, threats, or even lawsuits will deter us from seeing
this through to the change needed, for the dynamic that has existed among the leaders
of the Police Department over the past two years is completely unacceptable to the
Township leadership.

This change is not ?all on you.? Capt. Hensley has resigned, which was entirely his choice, so his
behavior is no longer an issue. Col. Herzog has also received a performance improvement plan
directing him to change some aspects of how he works, both in general and speci?cally with the

captains, including any successor to Capt. Hensley. But we are not drawing false equivalencies
here, as the main issue that remains (given Capt. Hensley?s departure) is your de?ance of and
resistance to repeated directives that you need to change how you interact with your Chief, your
Assistant Chief, and especially the Chiefs Administrative Assistant. You have said repeatedly,
?Tell me what I need to do differently,? and we are doing that today, with as much speci?city as
we can. We cannot and will not write a script for you; what we are setting out are principles to
guide your conduct and interpersonal interactions.

Directives for Change.

The command staff functions as a team, most immediately the Chief, the Assistant Chief, the
Captain(s), and the Administrative Bureau Commander, but also? as the Chief?s
Administrative Assistant and our new Administrative Assistant for Finance, Kayla Cox.

(1) You are expected and directed to maintain cooperative, cordial, polite,
professional, and helpful work relationships with all team members and clerical staff at all
times. That means you must be warm, communicative, and kind?that is how we expect all of our
employees to treat each other. That is what is essential to the functioning of a healthy, productive
work team?more than just the bare minimum of communication needed to execute the task at
hand. We will expect this to be true of all of the employees in the Chief? 3 of?ce, but there have
been longstanding problems with you speci?cally being withdrawn, unfriendly, and non?
communicative to at least some members of the staff. That will change starting now as a condition
of your continued employment.

(2) Speci?cally, you will change and signi?cantly improve your workplace
interactions with_ Despite the complaints and allegations set forth in your letters
to Mr. Burks (and earlier to the Chief), the investigation has concluded that she has done nothing
wrong?not in May 2018 and not since?and we have adopted that conclusion. _is an
effective and helpful employee who is not going anywhere as long as she continues her solid
performance and wants to stay here. Your speci?c allegations of ?misconduct? were found to be
baseless and without merit, and your accusations risked being discriminatory in nature because
you complained of innocuous conduct that would never been targeted for a male co?worker. You
are a senior commander in this organization, and West Chester Township will not incur that risk
or have employees treated in any manner not characterized by equality, dignity, and respect.

This means more than forced ?good morning? and ?good evening? greetings or rote, arti?cially
staged, going-through-the?motions pleasantries. You do not have to be her ?friend,? at work or
otherwise. You do not need to open up to her about personal matters or engage in constant social
chit?chat at work. But you do need to treat her and work with her as the valued member of the
work team that she is, whether or not you are happy about her presence. The standard to which
you will be held is that you will treat?in a kind, pleasant, professional,
cooperative and respectful manner so that an objective outsider cannot tell any difference
from how you treat her and any other member or employee of the Police Department. That
means using her name and addressing her directly, warmly, and politely. You will not freeze her
out, shun her, avoid her, or declare will not talk to her about. . in a way that is different from
how you interact with other employees. Your speci?c claims of ?discomfort? have been found

not to be objectively reasonable or defensible for the Township, given your status as a senior
commander and the ?nding that-did nothing wrong to warrant such discomfort. In any
event, you must work professionally and cooperatively with people you like and don?t like with
whom you are comfortable and with whom you are not. It is not yourjob to supervise?
her dress, or her interaction with others; she reports to Ms. Lovell and, of course, ultimately, to the
Chief and the Board of Trustees, as you do. If you have a concern about her conduct, toward
you or otherwise, you are directed to bring it immediately and as simultaneously as possible,
either verbally or in writing, to both the Police Chief and the Assistant Township
Administrator or, in her absence, the Human Resources Manager or Township
Administrator. The Township has no intention to abide or indulge in overblown complaints that
subject- to standards applicable to no one else, as happened here. At the same time, the
Township is committed to providing any employee, including both - and you, a work
environment free of discrimination, discriminatory harassment, or retaliation. Any failure to report
any such issues and complaints immediately as directed here (in addition to anyone else you may
choose to contact, such as an attorney), will be treated as a major infraction of this performance
improvement plan and may result in your immediate discharge.

The bottom line of your working relationship with?is this: If you cannot get past what
has happened and overcome your discomfort working with her in a way that allows you to comply
with this expectation, then you need to seek other employment or resign, because this is a firm
condition for your continued employment.

You will also maintain more open and cooperative communication with the rest of the command
team?your Chief, your Assistant Chief, any fellow captain, and the Administrative Bureau
Commander. The Chief and Assistant Chief have been directed to improve their own
communications and feedback to the captains as well, obviously including you. In one-on?one
communications with the Chief or the Assistant Chief, formal or informal, and in any command
staff meeting, you will participate in an active, cooperative, and professional manner rather than
in any sullen or withdrawn manner.

As part of making sure the improved communication is real and lasting, the Township will
determine programs for improving communication that all members of the command staff,
including you, will participate in. Part of that will involve completing the work that your team was
already doing at one point with Dr. Henry Cohen, and Township Administration will likely identify
other training programs on effective supervision and interpersonal communication that you will
be directed to attend. The Assistant Township Administrator will provide a report to the
Township Administrator regarding individual and group progress.

(3) As you acknowledged in your interview with Mr. Duckett, both Col. Herzog and
Lt. Col. Rebholz have the right to give instructions and directives to lieutenants, sergeants, and
police of?cers under your command, and to do so directly. But we have also directed them to
make reasonable efforts to inform you and any other captain of those assignments so that you can
effectively supervise and allocate work among your subordinates. Regular, even daily, meetings
of the command staff should facilitate that. The two years of conflict and accusations have resulted
in severely stunted communication among the command staff as a whole, and that must change?
in every direction. We have made that clear. In turn, you will not directly or indirectly discipline,

correct, scold, or pressure subordinates who have received such directives or assignments directly
from the Chief or Assistant Chief.

(4) The Board of Trustees has vested the management of the Police Department in Col.
Joel I-lerzog, under the supervision of the Township Administrator and working also with the
Assistant Administrator and Human Resources Manager. You report directly to Lt. Col. Brian
Rebholz. Both Chief Herzog and Assistant Chief Rebholz have the right to issue and change
policies, procedures, and even longtime ways of doing business, and that is so because they run
the Department, not the captains. Your role is to carry out those directives, even those with which
you disagree, unless the directive is illegal or violates established ethical standards set forth in
Ohio law or other binding rules (as opposed to your own opinion or values). In short, the Chief
has the absolute right to make management and policy decisions with which you don?t agree. That
is true as long as he serves as Chief. Your job is to carry those out and support the Department?s
senior management in your own conversations and interactions with lieutenants, sergeants, police
officers, and any other employees under your authority.

(5) If at any time you have any complaint or allegation of improper conduct by the
Police Chief or the Assistant Chief, you are directed to bring it immediately and as simultaneously
as possible, either verbally or in writing, to both the Police Chief and the Assistant Township
Administrator or, in her absence, the Human Resources Manager or Township Administrator. As
was true with any issues involving- this obligation to report concerns immediately is
not changed by your wish to contact legal counsel?of course you may do that, but not as a
substitute for reporting it immediately to your employer. The Township Administration will
ensure that there will be no retaliation, with the understanding as set forth in Township policy that
discipline or discharge forjust cause is not retaliation. As you know, only the Township Trustees
can remove or demote any employee. As was true above, failure to follow this expectation can be
a dischargeable offense. While we will not abide trivial complaints or a low-grade campaign
against the Chief?from all sides, this conflict and dysfunction must stop now?we cannot ?x any
real problems if we do not know about them. I

Enforcement of Performance Action Plan.

In the recently concluded investigation, as you were told, you were not and still are not the subject
of disciplinary charges. As your performance evaluation indicates, however, there are still
signi?cant changes in your performance that are needed going forward. Because this problem has
festered so long without the necessary changes, we set forth here the minimum disciplinary
penalties for any violation of this plan, as the time for coaching or warnings has passed. We stress
?minimum??the Township reserves the right to escalate the penalties, including to discharge, if
the violation is serious and so warrants. A ?violation? is any failure to strictly comply with these
directives on every occasion. In order to protect against any possible retaliation, the Assistant
Township Administrator must be involved with Chief Herzog and sign off on any disciplinary or
other corrective action, and she will be involved with your performance evaluation over at least
the next two years. Further, Ms. Brown will be having meetings with the entire command staff
and, as needed, individually on a frequent basis to ensure that the needed improvements in conduct
and communication are actually happening?with you and with the Chief and Assistant Chief.

The minimum penalties for failure to comply with the plan are:
I First violation: Minimum ofa five-day suspension without pay.

0 Second violation: Minimum of a ten? or fifteen?day suspension without pay, and at the
Township?s option, demotion from your position.

0 No?more?than third violation: Discharge from employment.

Conclusion?and a Choice.

With the conclusion of the investigation and the choice of Capt. Hensley to resign and retire, the
command staff of the West Chester Police Department has an opportunity for a fresh start after
two years of conflict and dysfunction. You, Capt. Gutman, face a fork in your own professional
road, and a rather stark one. The only choices are a fundamental change in how you work with
your colleagues on the command staff and the clerical support staff or to change your employment,
either because you choose to leave or you will be discharged for failure to comply with this
performance improvement plan. Things will change?that is an absolute decision and requirement
from the Township?s senior management. The choice on which road to take is yours. We hope
that you choose wisely, and if you do, we look forward to working with you for the rest of your
career here to deliver excellent law-enforcement and public?safety services to the people of West
Chester Township.

In addition to resuming the teambuilding efforts with Dr. Cohen, Township Administration will
likely determine other interpersonal communication programs that the command staff will
complete together, and as mentioned above, the Township Administrator will also monitor
progress through reporting from the Assistant Administrator.

If you have any questions about this plan, please see Ms. Brown or Ms. Charles.

Cap?l-u Am, 95.4 ?7 {a 0/90

Capt. Joseph Gutmah Date

?at/La

Moi. 'ian Date!

7/20/13

isei D. Brown, Asst. Township Administrator Date