Grand Canyon Superintendent Christine Lehnertz has been cleared of any wrongdoing as is returning to the park/NPS
Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Christine Lehnertz, who was removed from her job last fall after undisclosed allegations were made against her, has been cleared of any wrongdoing and is returning to the park.
In an email to Grand Canyon staff, acting National Park Service Director Dan Smith on Thursday said an investigation into the allegations concluded they lacked credence.
"The investigation has been completed and I am extremely pleased to let you know the allegations were determined by OIG to be wholly unfounded," Smith wrote. "Chris has been fully exonerated of all allegations. Chris will be returning to the park soon to join all of you and assume her duties as superintendent. As we work out the details of her return, she asked me to send her appreciation to you for the work that you have done over the past several months in her absence."
When the investigation into the superintendent began last October, she was moved to an unspecified position in the Park Service.
Lehnertz had moved from Golden Gate National Recreation Area to the Grand Canyon in July 2016 to help the park overcome a long-running episode of sexual harassment,
In January 2016, a report released by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General said that for roughly 15 years life deep in the Inner Gorge of the Grand Canyon at times reflected rowdy, sexually charged scenes from a frat party for some park employees, with male employees pawing and propositioning female workers, some of who at times exhibited their own risqué behavior.
While Lehnertz was brought in to help end harassment at Grand Canyon, another episode was reported in 2017, according to an OIG investigation into a park manager alleged to have harassed an intern.
The incident ran for several months in 2017, according to the OIG report. The manager, who was not identified by name or position, resigned from the National Park Service in October of that year, about a month after he was interviewed by the OIG's staff.
In welcoming Lehnertz back to Grand Canyon, Smith called her "a talented and dedicated executive of the National Park Service and her commitment to building a respectful and inclusive workplace is sincere, broadly demonstrated, and widely respected. Together, you all have worked tirelessly to change the culture at Grand Canyon National Park. I thank all of you for the progress you have made at the park and for your contributions to the greater culture change within the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service. Your continuing commitment to these changes is crucial."
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Comments
yes! Finally some GOOD NEWS!
i don’t know her but I was suspicious as soon as I heard she was accused. People are so threatened by powerful women that they try to do anything to bring them down. Great job with investigation!
It's so much worse than you think. This kind of problem is all over the parks. I worked at Bryce Canyon a couple of years ago and several managers in their 40's and 50's where actively pursuing and dating their own direct employees, most of whom where around 20 years old. This was a problem that went from the top down, it was really disgusting. They even had two rapes that year, one which led to one of the victims leaving the park while the rapist stayed.
If you know of any allegations of sexual assault within the National Park Service that were not investigated, please report it to NPS law enforcement. If the allegation is against a NPS employee, please either notify the Investigative Services Branch, or the Office of Professional Responsibility for the National Park Service.
@anotherparky while not condoning or brushing aside the things you witnessed, it is a societal problem. having working in various fields for the government and in the private sector, its everywhere, unfortunately.
Investigation into undisclosed allegations found no wrong doing? Why publish this? If we don't know the allegations, what difference does it make?
she was removed from her position. The allegations would have been made by someone who apparently has a right not to be outed as part of that process— and outing the allegations might very well out that person. We can argue about whether that’s fair given the result but whatever. It is news that this very public removal has now been reversed. I’m one of her employees; I’m glad for this result and hope we can try to move forward to deal with the crap of the last few years and maybe reach some semblance of normal eventually.
Excellent response, thank you. So happy to learn this and see her return to GCNP.
confidentiality rules
What difference does it make? Are you kidding me Bill Baehr? Superintendent Lehnertz suffered the pain and embarrassment of being removed from her job and park for an unfounded allegation. A public statement exonerating her is the LEAST the NPS.
IS there any consequence for those that make false allegations?
There needs to be consequences!
She is well known and well liked across the NPS. Of course it matters to restore her reputation that has been attacked.
Thank you Chris for accepting to return after how you were treated. This is the best news from GC since it was first announce you were going to be Superintendent at the Canyon. Get back soon and continue the great work you started.
This is the best news I have heard out of the Department of the Interior in a very long time. Chris is an amazing leader, an I look forard to working with her and the rest of her team at Grand Canyon!
Maybe next time figure out if the employee actually did something wrong and THEN remove her?
I don't get it. We have a system where one is generally allowed to make an accusation and have it heard. Now you want some sort of retribution against the accuser?
Would you prefer a system where anyone who comes forward with an allegation must worry about a default where no final action taken against the accused means automatic retribution against the accuser? That's the way it's often been before where those with legitimate accusations have been afraid to come forth and where people in power generally didn't have to worry about abusing that power. I don't know enough about this case, but I'd venture that you don't either.
I want whatever punishment the accused would have faced for the offense to be suffered by the accuser that cannot prove their accusations. It's just basic fairness. If the accuser just made an honest mistake that should go unpunished. Lying in accusations should be punished.
You do understand there's a basic issue that historically those in power have abused that power and used their position to threaten anyone who dared lodge an accusation by "burying" them? I don't know what happened here and I'm pretty sure you don't know either. Your post was only about "consquences". That's not how it works - that there are consequences or not. Basic fairness should allow someone to make an accusation in good faith and not worry about how the powerful will destroy them in retribution.
She's been cleared, and I hope that she can let it go without the kind of retribution you seem to think is appropriate.
"Basic fairness should allow someone to make an accusation in good faith and not worry about how the powerful will destroy them in retribution." I agree. Basic fairness should also punish those that make false accusations against the powerful as well as the powerless so that the accused doesn't have to worry about false accussers False accusers become very powerful when there are no consequences for false accusations. The accused remains tainted by the accusation. It's a fundamental failure of the United States justice system that the powerful state can accuse, arrest , and put you on trial and if the Governement fails to prove the case, your reputation and finances may be ruined even though you are aquitted. Perhaps we need a law like this: "The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst" https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+19%3A18-19&vers...
y_w_p “. . would you prefer a
system. .where no final action. . means automatic retribution against the accuser?”
Hmm. Well, in a great deal of Civil litigation, if you bring a case and lose, you are responsible for all court costs and attorneys‘ fees.
So, the concept is not as entirely alien as you insist.
Key words there y_p_W - "in good faith". I think Bill would agree with you there but there have been too many recent examples of accusations (not necessarily NPS) that weren't in good faith that have gone without consequences. You are correct we don't know all the details here. Perhpas we should. But the wording "wholly unfounded" does make one wonder.
I agree that we should know the details. "Wholly unfounded" makes me think that if was a false accusation and that the accuser should be punished.
There's clearly whistleblower protection in the Dept of the Interior and across the entire federal government. I don't know if this was a misunderstanding or perhaps something where the Superintendent was falsely accused. But we have protections in place for whistleblowers. The basic premise is that it's better to protect accusers rather than give real abuses a pass on the basis of accusers being afraid of retribution. And part of that protection includes confidentiality.
Yours is a system where people basically get away with crimes and or other bad behavior because the powerful can afford attorneys. Yours is a system where whistleblowers fear being railroaded.
Two-edged-sword...
The same confidentiality that protects victims in precarious positions, also allows the nefarious to scurry in the darkness and spread vileness and defilement.
Thank a metaphorical GOD, or otherwise, to be afforded the former and protected from the later.
Chris, you go, sister.
thx
I am just so glad that this is over, that Chris is back where she belongs and I hope that one day soon she will be the Director of the NPS. She is one of our best and I am so proud of her.
Not alien, but in the case of a civil suit an attorney will often provide a free consultation and will appraise the client about the possibility of attorneys fees. However, it seems to be up to the judge in a particular case to award attorneys fees. As far as I know it's not automatic should a plaintiff lose.
I don't know if this case was truly warranted or not, but it does upset me to hear almost a knee-jerk reaction about whether or not any accusers were punished for making the accusation(s).
Does this need to be modified to include punishment for the accuser should there be no action taken against the accused?
Thank you.
Thank you for reporting this! I am impressed this personel matter was handled confidentially, except the public 'all clear,' as it should be. What concerns me a great deal more are the comments referencing the "hostile work environment" that exists in some NPS units. The behaviors exhibited at Grand Canyon and apparently other units has been unacceptable for decades, and people that say otherwise may be contributing to the problem. I worked for Fortune 500 companies which were Federal Contractors or Regulated Industry. The behaviors reported were banned in the 1960's and at a zero tolerance level by the 1980's. The issue is definitely a top down issue, but it takes 'grass-roots' reporting to motivate executives to assure the 'mindset' is truly zero tolerance. I am sickened when government, Hollywood, and other industries claim anything less than zero tolerance is acceptable. I wish Superintendent Lehnertz the best in pursuing zero tolerance and a positive atmosphere for our National Park Service workers, volunteers and visitors.
I never for a moment believed anything against Chris. I have had the pleasure of working for her at GGNRA, and Chris is nothing but professional, honest, and full of integrity. She is the most ethical person I have worked with and for. Chris, so glad you are back where you belong -- in the parks doing wonderful work for the parks and your staff.
though not all investigations are unbiased or clean, at least we have one here. So when the accused is exonerated we can hope/trust that the decision is at least based on a better understanding of reality than the rest of us have. The only problem I see here is that when men are charged with the abuse of power today, they are often punished without ever having the judicial review that Lehnertz has had here. This is clearly a problem in the NPS, and one hopes that this case draws attention to it.