Accused of sexual harassment by two Polk County employees, the county’s director of general services is retiring.
Polk County supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday, Aug. 11, to approve a retirement agreement with Scott Ourth after he told county officials of his plan to leave. His last day will be Sept. 22.
Ourth, a former state legislator hired by the county in 2022, oversees a variety of logistical and support functions for county government. He faces trial next year in two sexual harassment lawsuits filed by coworkers.
In their complaints, county central services manager Kelly Michael and county building technician Loretta Robuck-Whitlow allege Ourth spent unwarranted amounts of time with them, hugged and touched them, invaded their personal space and sat by and touched them even when they tried to avoid him.
The women also allege they faced retaliation for complaining to county officials, including the supervisors. They say in their complaints they received less desirable work assignments to keep them away from Ourth and were treated differently than their male coworkers.
Ourth did not respond to the Des Moines Register’s requests for comment.
Ourth’s retirement comes after county officials fired Tom Alessio Jr., who worked under Ourth as county building and grounds supervisor and deputy director of the county’s general services division. Alessio’s firing on June 5 followed a monthlong human resources investigation.
Alessio was terminated after county leaders “substantiated multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviors and conduct,” according to his termination letter, obtained by the Register.
The county hasn’t divulged cellphone texts, photos and video Alessio sent to co-workers. Lee Rood, the Register’s Reader’s Watchdog columnist, requested the records June 29 as part of her ongoing reporting on Alessio, but the county has asked a judge to decide whether they are in fact public and subject to Iowa’s open records law.
The county in its petition for declaratory judgment says it does not have possession of Alessio’s county-issued cell phone. It says it has some messages he sent to an unnamed female employee, but that she received them on her personal phone and turned them over voluntarily.
Des Moines Register reporter William Morris contributed to this story.
Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines and Polk County government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Polk County leader accused of sexual harassment plans to retire
Reporting by Virginia Barreda, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Virginia Barreda, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
