A report released Thursday night details the third-party investigation conducted into a sexual harassment complaint against Utah County Commissioner Greg Graves.

The investigative report details witness accounts describing Graves’ behavior as bombastic, intimidating and “super derogatory” toward the woman who filed the complaint, but was unable to confirm or deny the various allegations of sexual or suggestive comments and behaviors by Graves, including comments reportedly made about his marriage, dating preferences or the alleged touching above the woman’s knee while in a golf cart together detailed in the complaint.

“Employing a ‘preponderance of the evidence’ standard, (i.e., more likely than not), I am unable to conclude that (Graves) engaged in any unwelcome sexual or suggestive behavior or conduct toward Claimant,” the conclusion of the report states.

But, the report says, multiple witnesses interviewed confirmed that Graves’ behavior toward the woman who filed the complaint changed dramatically around early May when she asked him not to accompany her on a work trip.

“It is also important to note, based on statements from nearly all of the witnesses, that (Graves) is widely viewed as a workplace ‘bully,’ ‘dishonest,’ ‘demeaning,’ ‘intimidating,’ ‘threatening,’ ‘explosive,’ and someone with whom personal interaction is to be avoided as much as possible,” the investigative report states.

The sexual harassment complaint, filed in October by a Utah County employee who was Graves’ subordinate, was released to the public Wednesday and alleged multiple instances of misconduct by Graves including that he touched the claimant above the knee and told her “not to show it if she didn’t want it touched.”

The investigative report’s conclusion stated that the claimant appeared to be a credible witness, and that she appeared to have complained to multiple county employees that Graves’ behavior made her feel uncomfortable.

The report concluded that Graves treated the woman who filed the complaint in an unfair, demeaning and offensive manner and that this behavior was fully consistent with the way (Graves) treats many other employees of the county.

Calls to resign

After approving the release of the complaint filed against Graves, his fellow Utah County Commissioners Nathan Ivie and Bill Lee both called Wednesday for him to resign. Graves categorically denied any wrongdoing and said he will not resign.

Following the release of the investigative report Thursday, Graves has also been asked to resign by the Utah County Republican Party.

A press release issued Thursday night stated the UCRP decided that the investigative report thoroughly documented cases of employee harassment, intimidation and retaliation (abuse of power).

“Greg Graves has made a mockery of his office as a county commissioner and also of the principles of the Republican Party,” said Rob Craig, chairman of the Utah County Republican Party, in the release. “His conduct is unacceptable. We have higher expectations of our elected Republican officials. These actions demand his immediate resignation. He no longer has the confidence of the Utah County Republican Party and its members.”

If Graves does not resign, the release said, the UCRP will pursue his censure, at a minimum, and his removal from office in accordance with Utah State Code, if possible.

“The UCRP believes this is the appropriate response to protect the citizens of Utah County, allow legal counsel to advise other courses of action, assess Utah County’s legal exposure for Mr. Graves’ actions, and minimize the likelihood of this behavior reappearing in our party in the future,” the press release said.

Graves decried the accusations and issued a statement Wednesday that said he was “disappointed that people would use the horrific news of the day to attack and attempt to stop me from doing what I promised the voters of Utah County I would do.”

Graves did not respond to the Daily Herald’s requests for comment Thursday night after the investigative report was released.

Reportedly unwelcome behavior

The report states that the woman who filed the report described Graves’ behavior before May 9, as flirty, teasing, inappropriate and unwelcome. The report says the woman acknowledged she never told Graves “that his conduct was unwelcome or that his conduct made her uncomfortable because he was her (redacted).”

The woman first complained to county management about Graves behavior on May 8, according to the report.

The woman says Graves also told her in May that she was “uptight” and “there are things (she) could do to not be so uptight” and explained that “sex relieves stress,” according to the complaint.

The complaint describes another alleged instance in which Graves “swung his bottom in (her) face saying, ‘Kick it, it’s the last time you’re going to be able to.'”

The 11-page investigative report details that the Utah County Commission approved a third-party attorney to conduct the investigation into the matter on Nov. 7. That investigation was completed Dec. 4. To complete the investigation, the attorney conducted interviews with 16 people, including Graves and the person who made the complaint.

In the complaint, the woman claimed Graves retaliated against her after she reported the behavior to superiors in May and made inflammatory, damaging comments about the claimant and her work that were not based on actual job performance.

All of the witnesses’ names and identifying information were redacted from the investigative report.

According to the investigative report, multiple witnesses interviewed said that, when the woman was first hired, Graves was very supportive of her. An individual identified as Witness 6 described how Graves had spent a great deal of time in the woman’s work area when they were “unified” before the summer of 2017.

Then, in the spring or summer of 2017, that behavior changed to become negative and “super derogatory” toward the woman, according to Witness 1.

In October, several months after the woman first complained to county management, Graves was upset for not getting a paycheck and reportedly said, “Tell that dumbass (the woman who ultimately filed the report) that she better get this fixed.”

Witness 3 also corroborated the report of that incident, saying Graves yelled and used vulgar language, including calling the woman a “worthless piece of s—.”

Graves’ actions toward the woman since the summer of 2017 were definitely retaliation, Witness 4 said.

Witness 2 told investigators that the claimant had told him she felt “uncomfortable and bullied by (Graves),” and said Graves had once fabricated a meeting with the claimant in order to get out of a speeding ticket when he was pulled over by law enforcement.

Both of Graves’ fellow commissioners said they have witnessed Graves display that intimidating behavior toward employees.

“I’ve seen it,” Lee said referring to bullying behavior. Lee said, after voting to release the sexual harassment complaint, he had a conversation with Graves where Graves told him things were “about to get ugly.”

“(Graves) said ‘Things are going to get ugly for you,'” Lee said. “He said they’re going to get ugly for you, and he named a whole bunch of other people. It’s deflecting. He’s deflecting from himself.”

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Ivie said he’s had multiple people in his office “in tears, others in anger and all in complete frustration.”

In the same post, Ivie said if Graves won’t resign, Ivie will seek to censure him, remove his assignments and take steps to limit his power.

Graves’ four-year term runs through the end of 2018.

Lee said he would be open to motions made that would limit Graves’ power, saying Graves had infused a level of fear into county employees.

“I went into the office today … and employees were whispering and preparing and doing things different,” Lee said. “They were asking for deputies to be there more often walking the halls. There’s a fear level that has been infused into our culture and into our business.”

Lee said Wednesday that no criminal charges had been filed against Graves to his knowledge.

Graves denies allegations

When Graves was interviewed for the investigation, he denied most of the factual allegations raised by the woman, the report says.

“However, (Graves) did admit to a few of the allegations, albeit with variations or explanations that are contradicted by himself or other witnesses,” the investigative report says.

For instance, Graves admitted that he had made one of the comments detailed in the report, but said that witnesses 5 and 7 were present as well. Witnesses 5 and 7 do not recall being present for the incident, the report said.

Graves also said he “might have” made a comment detailed by Witness 7 in which he said the claimant “messed with the wrong commissioner,” following a disagreement with the claimant.

“(Graves) justified the angry outburst by explaining that he was ‘livid’ because he had ‘invested five straight months’ working with Claimant on preparing for the (redacted),” the report says. “He then stated that the reason he was upset about travel being cancelled is because he had tickets to a sporting event that he did not want to miss.”

Graves also categorically denied multiple instances, including the time he allegedly waved his bottom in the claimant’s face, that were corroborated by witnesses.

“Both Witness 4 and the Claimant recalled this situation clearly, and Witness 4 submitted a written statement (undated) confirming the details of this incident,” the report says.

Graves also claimed that, during the golf cart incident, other people were always near to the cart and would have seen any kind of touching.

“However, Witness 9 credibly explained that Respondent and Claimant were often far away, ‘out of earshot,’ chasing their own golf balls and that he would not have been able to see any kind of touching that might have happened in the golf cart.”

The report says Graves tried to divert attention from the topic of physical touching during the golf course incident, and began complaining to the investigator about what a bad golfer the woman was.

“(Graves stated) matter of factly that she could not hit a ball farther than the length of a conference table, the report says.