Records show racist e-mails, office affair
ELKHORN — Walworth County Judge Robert Kennedy on Friday upheld a ruling that the public has the right to see the documents supporting the Darien Village Board’s decision to fire Police Chief Steve DeVoy.
Attorneys for the village also took the first step toward holding a disciplinary hearing that will make the firing official.
The board on March 7 voted 5-2 to fire DeVoy. He has been suspended with pay since Dec. 1.
In closed session that day, investigators showed the board documents suggesting the chief spent “multiple hours per day” reading and creating material on his work computer that wasn’t related to his job. The board saw similar material in closed session March 19.
The Janesville Gazette requested the documents in January and again on March 6.
The Gazette on Friday took a cursory look at the documents where they sit in stacks on village attorney David Danz’s desk. A complete study was not possible before the deadline for this edition of the Gazette.
DeVoy also has not had a chance to see all the documents. He has “great concerns” about the accuracy of those he has seen, DeVoy told The Janesville Gazette on Friday night.
At the time, he was unaware of Kennedy’s Friday afternoon ruling.
Of the documents he has seen, DeVoy said some were created on days he wasn’t in the office. Anyone could have accessed his computer, DeVoy said.
“On certain days I was not even present,” DeVoy said about the records he’s accused of generating. “The other records of concern were generated or sent by other employees other than myself.”
The “time-wasters”
It’s not just the content of the electronic material that raised red flags.
It’s the amount of material, Danz said.
Computer records indicate that sometimes days went by and no work documents were created on DeVoy’s computer.
But other documents were, including logos for local businesses and letters to the editor or to the Walworth County District Attorney’s office.
The letters bore names other than DeVoy’s.
Danz dubbed the biggest stack of material taken from department computers as the “time-wasters.” Much of the stack is e-mails sent to and from DeVoy’s computer and computers used by police department employees.
Some of the e-mails are the sort of non-inflammatory “jokes” that typically get forwarded in chains.
In another stack were images Danz classified as more disturbing.
Some depicted naked men and women. Many were racist or offensive to minority groups.
Other e-mails reminded department employees that the village computers were for work use only. One employee e-mailed DeVoy and apologized after being reprimanded for adding wallpaper to his or her e-mail.
Information technology expert Dean Williams said that type of strict control fits the profile of the type of employee Williams is often hired to investigate.
Williams is an independent contractor who was hired by Hazelbaker & Associates, a Madison law firm the village hired as part of the investigation.
Williams’ job normally is to search through an employee’s computer and keep quiet evidence of affairs and other wrongdoings. He said this is the first time he can remember investigating someone who worked in the public sector.
The large volume and sexual nature of the material Williams found on DeVoy’s computer are typical of the kind of investigation he does, Williams said.
“And there’s always a girl,” Williams said.
Work relationship
One 207-page collection of materials appears to document a sexual relationship between DeVoy and a department employee.
The two exchanged “I love you’s” over e-mail although they worked in the same office, Danz said.
E-mails reference meetings outside work and outside of the village. A few of the e-mails specifically reference a sexual relationship.
The e-mails went between the two computers from June to November of 2006, although it is unclear how long the relationship lasted, Williams said.
The earliest documents Williams could retrieve were from 2005.
DeVoy kept a log on his computer documenting the relationship, Williams said. DeVoy attempted to delete the document, but Williams retrieved it from the computer.
“A couple of the documents, coupled with the (e-mailed) letters to her (the employee) would have kept my investigation to a couple hours in a corporate environment,” Williams said. “It’s so clear about what he did wrong because of the fact that he kept the documentation.”
Danz said DeVoy and the employee would not be held to the same disciplinary standards.
“It doesn’t matter who chased who or who caught who,” Danz said. “The supervisor is by legal definition wrong. The municipality has tremendous financial exposure for a lawsuit.”
DeVoy told the Gazette that anyone could have created the e-mails or documents.
“I have absolutely no comment,” DeVoy said. “That could have been generated by someone else because of security issues with the computer.”
What’s next
As a public employee, DeVoy has the right to a disciplinary hearing before being fired.
That hearing has not been scheduled.
But Friday afternoon, Danz served DeVoy’s attorney with a notice of termination giving DeVoy the right to request a hearing. DeVoy must make the request within 10 and 30 days, Danz said.
DeVoy has worked at the Darien Police Department for more than 20 years and has been chief since 2003.
In 2008, his salary with benefits was $90,858, board member Phil Putman said.
CHARGES AGAINST DEVOY
When the Darien Village Board on March 7 fired Police Chief Steve DeVoy, the board listed four charges against the chief.
The board March 19 added two more charges.
The charges, according to village documents, are:
-- DeVoy installed surveillance cameras in the police department without authorization.
A Walworth County Sheriff’s Office deputy installed the cameras. An employee discovered the cameras on Dec. 1.
-- DeVoy violated village police by placing and circulating offensive material on his work computer.
-- DeVoy created a hostile work environment and exposed the village to liability by having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.
-- DeVoy failed to provide leadership.
-- DeVoy was insubordinate.
-- DeVoy failed to use his time wisely while on duty. He failed to ensure department employees did so as well.
