NCCo Council president under internal investigation while assistant in legal limbo

The New Castle County Council will meet behind closed doors on Monday to discuss an investigation into whether Council President Karen Hartley-Nagle created a hostile workplace for her legislative aide.

Kate Maxwell, Hartley-Nagle's aide, has been on paid leave since the beginning of May after making allegations of "potential harassment, and/or hostile work environment," confidential records reviewed by The News Journal show.

Members of the County Council took the initiative to remove Maxwell from Hartley-Nagle's oversight, but are tied into knots over how to resolve the situation — which raises the specter of litigation and a 2014 county payout to a disgruntled employee.

The County Council has allocated some $50,000 to a Wilmington law firm and a Middletown human resources specialist to investigate the issue and prepare for the potential fallout, according to public records.

Council members have largely kept quiet about the investigation, citing restrictions against discussing personnel matters. But it has been the subject of multiple closed-door meetings with council members who fear the situation could lead to a lawsuit against the county.

Some county officials and employees with knowledge of the situation spoke to the newspaper on the condition that they not be named.

"It’s an embarrassment," one government official said.

The County Council is expected to hear the results of the investigation in a closed executive session Monday.

STORY: New Castle County loosens construction rules to increase local bids

STORY: Union heat defers action on NCCo bidding rules

Hartley-Nagle said she would "love to talk" about the situation but could not because it's a "personnel matter."

Maxwell spoke generally about the work environment under Hartley-Nagle but declined to discuss specifics because the investigation is still pending.

“The environment I worked in I would not wish for anybody,” said Maxwell, who had not worked for county government prior to taking a position under Hartley-Nagle. “It was very hostile and combative."

The investigation adds to tension between Hartley-Nagle and some on the County Council, who have criticized the way she runs the council's twice-monthly meetings.

During her brief tenure as council president, "Point of Order!" has frequently been lobbed at Hartley-Nagle by council members when they believe she has stepped on protocol outlined by council rules. These criticisms on occasion have turned into shouting matches.

“Don’t look and talk to me,” Councilman George Smiley said in a clash with Hartley-Nagle during an April meeting of the County Council. “You have zero credibility with me.”

At a council Finance Committee meeting last month, Hartley-Nagle pointed a finger at Smiley for sending “nasty” messages in chains of emails with other council and administration officials.

Smiley publicly challenged her to produce such emails. She had not as of Friday, he said.

"It is an embarrassment to council when the council president cannot conduct a simple meeting by the rules and procedures that have been in place for years," Smiley said.

Maxwell began working for Hartley-Nagle shortly after the new council president took office last fall. Maxwell is the daughter of Bob Maxwell, the county's former chief administrative officer and a lobbyist who represents New Castle County government and other Delaware counties. Her late fiancé was Christopher Leach, one of three Wilmington firefighters killed last September in a row house fire.

Each council member has an aide that works full time answering constituent inquiries, drafting legislation and otherwise tending to the office needs of the elected official.

Hartley-Nagle took office in November and shortly thereafter requested that Maxwell provide scripts for her to read while she presides over everything from council meetings with lengthy agendas to brief committee meetings, Maxwell said.

The detailed scripts, sent to the council president via email and obtained by The News Journal through Freedom of Information Act, were laid over meeting agendas to provide Hartley-Nagle a point-by-point road map on running meetings under council rules.

The scripts told Hartley-Nagle when to speak, what she was supposed to say, when she was to call on others to speak and when to turn the page.

Maxwell said the scripts were one source of tension with Hartley-Nagle, but she declined to elaborate.

'We had a legal obligation'

County Council members began noticing tense interactions between Hartley-Nagle and her aide in April, officials said.

Maxwell said Hartley-Nagle created a hostile workplace by regularly belittling her and restricting her ability to work by cutting off contact with other council employees. Other government officials corroborated the basis of the complaint and said the conduct was at times observed in public.

"Talking to Kate, seeing her crying, we knew there was a problem," one government official said.

In late April, members of the County Council brought the issue to the human resources department under County Executive Matt Meyer's administration.

"We had a legal obligation to do something," a council official said.

The County Council does not have a dedicated human resources department, and recently there has been confusion on the part of council members over precisely what human resources functions the administration must perform for the council.

At the time, council members agreed that Maxwell should be put on administrative leave while the county's human resources department investigated the situation and presented a possible solution.

Maxwell's position earns an annual salary of $50,000, according to county budget documents. She has remained on leave since May. A single mother supporting two young boys, Maxwell said the situation makes her uncomfortable.

“I’m in an unknown, gray area,” Maxwell said. “I don’t know if I will have a job next week.”

STORY: Matt Meyer elected New Castle County executive

STORY: Police union sues New Castle County government

Maxwell said she was told by a county human resources official that "New Castle County embraces you," that she'd never have to work for Hartley-Nagle again — and that she'd be put into a different position within county government.

But weeks after she was put on leave, an officer in the county executive’s human resources department communicated to the council and Maxwell that they would not handle the issue, officials said.

“I was confused and concerned because I had no idea what my rights and options were,” Maxwell said. “I was under the impression as a New Castle County employee that the New Castle County human resources department was to handle any issues or grievances.”

Officials in the Meyer administration declined to comment.

Some officials said the situation has dragged on far too long.

"It is very frustrating. It should never happen," one said. "There should be policies and procedures in place to deal with this."

The outside human resources firm, HR Strategies LLC, was hired to investigate the allegations, while the outside legal firm, Potter, Anderson & Corroon, was tapped to keep up with requests for information by an attorney hired by Hartley-Nagle, officials said.

Sidney Liebesman, the attorney representing Hartley-Nagle, declined to comment.

Council officials expect a report from the human resources firm on Monday, but it is unclear what resolution could be reached. That's partially because the County Council rules do not clearly address such issues.

The New Castle County Council handbook states the council "will not tolerate" behavior against an employee by a public official that violates "a general code of civility" in a way that creates a "hostile, abusive or offensive work environment" and interferes with the employee's duties.

Even if such an investigation found that took place, the rules do not clearly address any sort of power to punish an elected official.

It's also unclear what happens to Maxwell as there are no other vacancies in the ranks of council aides. A severance is also possible, officials speculated.

If the investigation finds that Hartley-Nagle did nothing that rose to the definition of "harassment," Maxwell's fate is also unclear. Should Hartley-Nagle seek to fire her aide, she would need a majority of the council to do so.

"Obviously, Kate can't go back to work for her," one government official said. “I think she is ours until the end of Karen’s term. We just don’t know how to do it.”

Maxwell said the uncertainty is unsettling.

“The people that are in control of my fate have not communicated with me at all nor do they seem to know what is going on, as well,” Maxwell said. “Everyone as a whole is operating in a gray area, which causes me a tremendous amount of anxiety being the number one supporter of my family.”

Avoiding a repeat episode

Weighing heavily on the minds of the County Council members is the story of Danielle Vincent.

She was a legislative aide to then-Council President Paul Clark in 2007. Vincent, whose last name at the time was Catarelli, lodged a workplace complaint in July 2007 alleging Clark ordered her do campaign work on county time, a violation of the government's code of ethics.

She was moved to the county's Police Department for a year before being moved to the county's code enforcement staff while officials investigated her complaint.

Though she was working in a different department, she technically remained a council aide and was paid through the council's budget.

Eventually, Clark became county executive when then-County Executive Chris Coons won a seat in the U.S. Senate. Shortly after Clark took over as executive, Vincent was terminated, according to court records.

She sued, arguing the county did not follow due process in her firing and eventually was paid $160,000 in a government settlement in 2014, according to records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Former County Executive Thomas P. Gordon, whose administration oversaw the settlement, would not comment.

It is unclear if Maxwell could be similarly moved to another department in county government. But officials said the County Council had to separate Maxwell from her boss.

“We had to do something,” a council official said. “If we didn't, we might as well open the checkbook because there would eventually be a lawsuit.”

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.