Madison – Mayor Dave Cieslewicz made the following statement regarding today’s release of the investigative report into the workplace atmosphere at the Overture Center. Cieslewicz requested the investigation in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against former Overture Center President Bob D’Angelo:

“The report released today shows that the vast majority of Overture Center employees are hard-working, dedicated individuals who are ably running a world-class facility. However, the report also shows that the workplace atmosphere at Overture was compromised by the inappropriate behavior of some employees. Given that fact, the report makes several recommendations that I have reviewed and support entirely.

“The first recommendation is to strengthen the City of Madison’s policies against harassment and discrimination, and improve our system of training our employees in the requirements of those policies. That step has already been taken, with the release of the new City policy against harassment and discrimination (APM 3-5). That policy includes training requirements to ensure that all City employees understand their obligations in the workplace, and their options for redress if they are subjected to inappropriate behavior.

“The second recommendation is for upper management at Overture to take a stronger leadership role in dealing with personnel issues. A higher level of engagement and communication within Overture on these issues will help ensure that inappropriate workplace situations are identified and corrected in a timely, effective manner. To that end, the report asks Overture Interim President Michael Goldberg to produce a report in early 2006 on specific steps that have been taken, and he has agreed to do so.

“Finally, the report recommends that a specialized workplace training program be developed to specifically address workplace issues at Overture. I support this recommendation, and the City’s Human Resources Department will be directed to develop such a program.

“This has been a challenging period for Overture Center employees, and I want to thank each of them for their cooperation in this investigation and report. I also want to thank Janet Piraino, Jim Hess and the rest of the investigative team for their work. It is my hope that the lessons learned from this situation will help create healthy and safe workplaces not just at Overture, but throughout city government.”

The investigative report was released at the request of local media.