On Wednesday, Montana Public Service Commission President Brad Molnar, R-Laurel, put forth a motion to withdraw a letter sent by the PSC Response Team to Governor Greg Gianforte. The letter requests that the governor place Molnar on temporary leave while the response team completes its investigation into allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct, including accusations of harassment and retaliation.
After three hours of discussion on Wednesday, the commission rejected Molnar’s motion, 2 to 3, meaning the letter was not rescinded.
Much of the discussion on Wednesday was between Molnar and Vice-President Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, disputing allegations and making their cases on what the fate of the letter should be.
“This is a temporary request. It’s not a permanent request,” explained Feilder. It’s just simply because President Molnar has not refrained from interfering in the process and not refrained from retaliating against those involved.”
Fielder alleged Molnar was actively trying to prevent the investigation from moving forward, while Molnar claimed the investigation is a violation of his constitutional rights. He further alleged that it was an attempt to “overturn the will of the voters” and that the timing of the letter was conveniently around the same time they were hearing important rate cases.
“They can take you down with unsubstantiated allegations, anonymous tips, meetings in the dark, contracts not fulfilled through process because they want to,” said Molnar. “They will say that I will impede the investigation. There is no evidence that I will impede the investigation.”
He also disputed the workplace allegations against him, saying he may have made jokes that others didn’t like. Molnar specifically named staff members who may have had complaints against him, and said people wouldn’t testify if they thought he would retaliate against them.
“Is staff intimidated by me? I’m looking at three of them that aren’t,” Molnar said, motioning to staff in the room who had testified.
PSC staff members who gave testimony during the work session argued not to recind the letter and discussed issues they've seen, including alleged threats of retaliation.
Alana Lake, PSC executive director but speaking as a private citizen, said she had deep respect for Molnar and the work that he has done for the commission. However, she said commissioners are not above the law and there needs to be a way to hold commissioners responsible for their actions.
“In this instance, I and all other members of management took all necessary and lawful steps to address complaints when they came forward,” said Lake. “We began at the lowest levels, but were forced to escalate the issue when multiple attempts to address the issues were not successful.”
During the work session, Vice-President Fielder laid out a case of what led to the letter and why the letter was necessary. She described what she sees as a clear pattern of behavior to obstruct the investigation, including Molnar denying funding to the HR firm and legal representation working for the PSC Response Team.
“During the investigation, Commissioner Molnar has repeatedly taken steps to interfere with the code of conduct process in an effort to prevent it from reaching its conclusion,” said Fielder.
She also said there is evidence of retaliation that occurred, but declined to reveal specific details until the investigation is completed.
It is now up to Gov. Greg Gianforte if he wants to act on the letter sent to him by the PSC Response Team. If he does choose to put Molnar on administrative leave, he can appoint a temporary replacement until the period of leave has ended.
