Allegations of bullying and intimidation led to superintendent's termination WATCH THE VIDEO
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
Citing allegations of intimidation and bullying against employees and county elected officials, and a style of management that "lacked character" and "lacked integrity," the Highland County Board of Developmental Disabilities voted 5-0 Monday night to terminate the employment of Hills and Dales Superintendent Chuck Biggert, without pay and effective immediately.
Biggert said that the allegations against him are hearsay and lies and that he will be seeking an administrative appeal of the board's actions.
The board met in a special session Monday for a pre-disciplinary conference.
The board scheduled Monday's special session following a Sept. 22 meeting in which the board voted 6-0 to pass a resolution to terminate Biggert's employment. According to the board's attorney Jim Hughes, the Ohio Revised Code requires that the board give Biggert a written statement of the infractions that had been alleged against him. Biggert would then be given an opportunity to address and defend against the allegations during the conference.
Biggert did not attend Monday's meeting, and according to Hughes, Biggert had cited family obligations as his reason for not attending. Hughes was not in attendance for the meeting, but was on speaker phone during the session, and answered questions following the meeting.
"What led to the action tonight was a series of conduct by Mr. Biggert that caused the board to lose confidence in his leadership," Hughes said.
Hughes stated that there were "11 or 12 charges" alleged against Biggert, but they are not legal charges, rather infractions against rules of conduct and the board's code of ethics.
"We gave him an opportunity, pursuant to the statute, to respond to those charges, at the pre-disciplinary conference that was convened tonight," Hughes said. "Mr. Biggert chose not to attend."
Biggert told The Highland County Press Monday that the allegations against him were lies, and he had previously told the board he was unable to attend Monday's meeting.
"I have never intimidated anyone," Biggert said. "How can you defend against a lie? It's not true at all. It will all come out, I guess, and hopefully the appropriate action will be taken against these people making false allegations."
Hughes said that Biggerts alleged actions have caused a decline in morale at the facility and interfered with the board's work.
"There was an allegation that Mr. Biggert had misrepresented a fact at an open meeting of the county board in June of 2011 that he had discussed and received a legal opinion from the county prosecutor regarding Mr. Snyder's eligibility to serve as a board member. Another charge was that his conduct was to intimidate and bully members of board by calling board members' employers. There was a charge that he intimidated and bullied employees. There was a series of examples where he had done that. There was a charge where he had intimidated and bullied county employees, including a county commissioner and the county prosecutor, to the extent that neither the commissioner nor the county prosecutor communicate directly with Mr. Biggert anymore. They say that typically they will not communicate with him because of his tactics."
Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins and Highland County Board of Commissioners President Shane Wilkin declined to comment regarding the allegations, citing the pending appeal. Wilkin did refer to the letter the commissioners sent to the board of DD in August.
Hughes said that Biggert's alleged behavior extended to how he ran Hills and Dales.
"There was a charge that his management style was based upon a lack of integrity, that his management style lacked character, which led to a significant morale problem within the county board, which hindered it from accomplishing its mission," Hughes saidd. "There was another charge where he used bullying and intimidation tactics against the public at large. There were specific instances where he had used profanity and approached different members of the public in public places and used bullying tactics against them. And all of these bullying and intimidating tactics are in violation of the county board's code of ethics, which apply to Mr. Biggert."
As the meeting was called into session Monday, board president Linda Allen said, "We were going to give Mr. Biggert an opportunity to plead his case, but he is not here and we are going to proceed without him."
The board met in executive session for just under an hour to discuss "the employment matter for Mr. Biggert," according to Allen.
Board members John Fittro and Gary Buchanan were not in attendance.
When the board voted to enter back into executive session, board member Karen Adams made a motion that the board adopt a resolution terminating Biggert's employment, and it was seconded by board member Sam Snyder. The five board members in attendance voted to pass the resolution.
Adams read the resolution aloud, saying, "The Highland County Board of Developmental Disabilities has convened a pre-disciplinary conference on this day for the purpose of giving Charles L. Biggert an opportunity to rebut charges that serve as the basis of the board's consideration of his termination from his position as superintendent of the Highland County Board of Developmental Disabilities, for cause in accordance with the provisions in ORC Section 5126.23. Be it further resolved that, based on the evidence presented at the pre-disciplinary conference, the board hereby takes action to terminate and remove Mr. Biggert from his employment at superintendent, without pay, effective immediately."
The consideration of the resolution was the only item on the board's agenda, and the board adjourned following the vote to adopt the resolution.
Biggert was going to be given an opportunity to address all the allegations Monday, Hughes said..
"What evidence was there to rebut the charges? There was none, because he chose not to show up," Hughes said. "The matter is closed as far as the board is concerned. Mr. Biggert has options under the statute to request an administrative appeal and he has an option after that appeal to appeal that decision, if adverse to him, to the Highland County Court of Common Pleas. He has no official duties at the facility. As a member of the public he's allowed access to the building for reasons that any other member of the public would be there, but he has no official duties with the board. His position is terminated, he is no longer employed by the board."
Biggert told The Highland County Press that the allegations the board sent to him were "totally false and mostly hearsay. I've not been afforded my due process rights. I received official notice Friday from the board, and I had told the board at that point I had a prior commitment on Monday, and that I could meet anytime except for tonight. They're supposed to give you three days notice. If you read (ORC Section) 5126.23, what happens now is I'm supposed to have my right to discuss the charges, but they were so vague, I don't know how I could have contested them. They violated the law by passing the resolution they passed on Sept. 22.
Biggert said that comments Hughes made following the Sept. 22 meeting, "misrepresented everything that happened at the August meeting. The attorney said I was on administrative leave, which was false. I was reassigned, which, in a sense, was in violation of my contract. Then they had a special meeting on Sept. 29, and now they've had another which, which I couldn't attend."
Allen told The Highland County Press that the board met in a special session Thursday, Sept. 29 at 7 a.m. to amend the Sept. 22 resolution. The incorrect portion of the Ohio Revised code was cited initially, and it was changed from Section 5126.23 to Section 5123.26. "We had a quorum of four board members, and the meeting lasted less than 10 minutes," Allen said.
During the board's August meeting, the board voted to "reassign" Biggert to "work on projects specifically assigned by the board. The board had previously voted in June to not renew Biggert's contract, which is up at the end of December. He began working at Hills and Dales in 2008.
Hughes said Sept. 22 that Biggert was currently on administrative leave with pay because of the board's August action, and that would be his status until the hearing.
The Highland County Board of Commissions wrote a letter to the board of DD in August regarding the communications they had with Biggert regarding Snyder's appointment. "Most troubling, however, is that Mr. Biggert continued to say that he does not want to embarrass anyone with a public disclosure of information regarding a commissioner and Mr. Snyder. The Board of Commissioners views this statement as a threat and we will not tolerate strong-arm tactics. Based on this, we respectfully request that any communication with our office be made by the Board President or a board member and not by Mr. Biggert. We find this type of behavior to be completely inappropriate and unprofessional," Commissioners Shane Wilkin, Tom Horst and Jeremy Shaffer wrote in the letter.
Snyder, a retired public school administrator and resident of Concord Township, was appointed to the Board of DD by the commissioners in January. However, in June, Board of DD Superintendent Chuck Biggert informed Snyder he was not eligible to serve. In August, Snyder was reappointed to the board of DD by the Highland County Board of Commissioners.
Citing allegations of intimidation and bullying against employees and county elected officials, and a style of management that "lacked character" and "lacked integrity," the Highland County Board of Developmental Disabilities voted 5-0 Monday night to terminate the employment of Hills and Dales Superintendent Chuck Biggert, without pay and effective immediately.
Biggert said that the allegations against him are hearsay and lies and that he will be seeking an administrative appeal of the board's actions.
The board met in a special session Monday for a pre-disciplinary conference.
The board scheduled Monday's special session following a Sept. 22 meeting in which the board voted 6-0 to pass a resolution to terminate Biggert's employment. According to the board's attorney Jim Hughes, the Ohio Revised Code requires that the board give Biggert a written statement of the infractions that had been alleged against him. Biggert would then be given an opportunity to address and defend against the allegations during the conference.
Biggert did not attend Monday's meeting, and according to Hughes, Biggert had cited family obligations as his reason for not attending. Hughes was not in attendance for the meeting, but was on speaker phone during the session, and answered questions following the meeting.
"What led to the action tonight was a series of conduct by Mr. Biggert that caused the board to lose confidence in his leadership," Hughes said.
Hughes stated that there were "11 or 12 charges" alleged against Biggert, but they are not legal charges, but rather infractions against rules of conduct and the board's code of ethics.
"We gave him an opportunity, pursuant to the statute, to respond to those charges at the pre-disciplinary conference that was convened tonight," Hughes said. "Mr. Biggert chose not to attend."
Biggert told The Highland County Press Monday that the allegations against him were lies, and he had previously told the board he was unable to attend Monday's meeting.
"I have never intimidated anyone," Biggert said. "How can you defend against a lie? It's not true at all. It will all come out, I guess, and hopefully the appropriate action will be taken against these people making false allegations."
Hughes said that Biggert's alleged actions have caused a decline in morale at the facility and interfered with the board's work.
"There was an allegation that Mr. Biggert had misrepresented a fact at an open meeting of the county board in June of 2011 that he had discussed and received a legal opinion from the county prosecutor regarding (board of DD member) Mr. (Sam) Snyder's eligibility to serve as a board member. Another charge was that his conduct was to intimidate and bully members of board by calling board members' employers. There was a charge that he intimidated and bullied employees. There was a series of examples where he had done that. There was a charge where he had intimidated and bullied county employees, including a county commissioner and the county prosecutor, to the extent that neither the commissioner nor the county prosecutor communicate directly with Mr. Biggert anymore. They say that typically they will not communicate with him because of his tactics."
Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins and Highland County Board of Commissioners President Shane Wilkin declined to comment regarding the allegations, citing the pending appeal. Wilkin did refer to the letter the commissioners sent to the board of DD in August.
Hughes said that Biggert's alleged behavior extended to how he ran Hills and Dales.
"There was a charge that his management style was based upon a lack of integrity, that his management style lacked character, which led to a significant morale problem within the county board, which hindered it from accomplishing its mission," Hughes said. "There was another charge where he used bullying and intimidation tactics against the public at large. There were specific instances where he had used profanity and approached different members of the public in public places and used bullying tactics against them. And all of these bullying and intimidating tactics are in violation of the county board's code of ethics, which apply to Mr. Biggert."
As the meeting was called into session Monday, board president Linda Allen said, "We were going to give Mr. Biggert an opportunity to plead his case, but he is not here, and we are going to proceed without him."
The board met in executive session for just under an hour to discuss "the employment matter for Mr. Biggert," according to Allen.
Board members John Fittro and Gary Buchanan were not in attendance.
When the board voted to enter back into executive session, board member Karen Adams made a motion that the board adopt a resolution terminating Biggert's employment, and it was seconded by board member Sam Snyder. The five board members in attendance voted to pass the resolution.
Adams read the resolution aloud, saying, "The Highland County Board of Developmental Disabilities has convened a pre-disciplinary conference on this day for the purpose of giving Charles L. Biggert an opportunity to rebut charges that serve as the basis of the board's consideration of his termination from his position as superintendent of the Highland County Board of Developmental Disabilities, for cause in accordance with the provisions in ORC Section 5126.23. Be it further resolved that, based on the evidence presented at the pre-disciplinary conference, the board hereby takes action to terminate and remove Mr. Biggert from his employment at superintendent, without pay, effective immediately."
The consideration of the resolution was the only item on the board's agenda, and the board adjourned following the vote to adopt the resolution.
Biggert was going to be given an opportunity to address all the allegations Monday, Hughes said.
"What evidence was there to rebut the charges? There was none because he chose not to show up," Hughes said. "The matter is closed as far as the board is concerned. Mr. Biggert has options under the statute to request an administrative appeal, and he has an option after that appeal to appeal that decision, if adverse to him, to the Highland County Court of Common Pleas. He has no official duties at the facility. As a member of the public, he's allowed access to the building for reasons that any other member of the public would be there, but he has no official duties with the board. His position is terminated, he is no longer employed by the board."
Biggert told The Highland County Press that the allegations the board sent to him were "totally false and mostly hearsay. I've not been afforded my due process rights. I received official notice Friday from the board, and I had told the board at that point I had a prior commitment on Monday, and that I could meet anytime except for tonight. They're supposed to give you three days' notice. If you read (ORC Section) 5126.23, what happens now is I'm supposed to have my right to discuss the charges, but they were so vague, I don't know how I could have contested them. They violated the law by passing the resolution they passed on Sept. 22."
Biggert said that comments Hughes made following the Sept. 22 meeting, "misrepresented everything that happened at the August meeting. The attorney said I was on administrative leave, which was false. I was reassigned, which, in a sense, was in violation of my contract. Then they had a special meeting on Sept. 29, and now they've had another, which I couldn't attend."
Allen told The Highland County Press that the board met in a special session Thursday, Sept. 29 at 7 a.m. to amend the Sept. 22 resolution. The incorrect portion of the Ohio Revised Code was cited initially, and it was changed from Section 5126.23 to Section 5123.26. "We had a quorum of four board members, and the meeting lasted less than 10 minutes," Allen said.
During the board's August meeting, the board voted to "reassign" Biggert to "work on projects specifically assigned by the board. The board had previously voted in June to not renew Biggert's contract, which is up at the end of December. He began working at Hills and Dales in 2008.
Hughes said Sept. 22 that Biggert was currently on administrative leave with pay because of the board's August action, and that would be his status until the hearing.
The Highland County Board of Commissions wrote a letter to the board of DD in August regarding the communications they had with Biggert regarding Snyder's appointment. "Most troubling, however, is that Mr. Biggert continued to say that he does not want to embarrass anyone with a public disclosure of information regarding a commissioner and Mr. Snyder. The Board of Commissioners views this statement as a threat, and we will not tolerate strong-arm tactics. Based on this, we respectfully request that any communication with our office be made by the Board President or a board member and not by Mr. Biggert. We find this type of behavior to be completely inappropriate and unprofessional," Commissioners Shane Wilkin, Tom Horst and Jeremy Shaffer wrote in the letter.
Snyder, a retired public school administrator and resident of Concord Township, was appointed to the Board of DD by the commissioners in January. However, in June, Board of DD Superintendent Chuck Biggert informed Snyder he was not eligible to serve. In August, Snyder was reappointed to the board of DD by the Highland County Board of Commissioners.
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