Published Online: July 17, 2013

Wyoming schools chief accused of harassment

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Newly released records on Wyoming Schools Superintendent Cindy Hill include sexual harassment claims filed against her and her staff.

State officials released a previously confidential portion of a report on their investigation into the embattled superintendent, The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported Wednesday (http://bit.ly/16IYh2i ).

The documents include claims that one of Hill's male deputies harassed female staff and that Hill herself made employees uncomfortable by applying unwanted touches and massages.

Hill told the newspaper that the claims aren't true.

"It's strange kind of stuff," she said. "The charges of sexual harassment are absurd. I don't know what happened there. They simply are not true."

Hill said she never gave massages, though she might have patted people on the back with a three-second rub. She added that she now wishes she hadn't done so but didn't know it made people uncomfortable.

Along with the report and its confidential section were hundreds of pages of other documents that have been under review by the attorney general.

Hill, a Republican who has announced that she will run for governor in 2014, was elected superintendent in 2010 and took office in January 2011.

This past winter, the GOP-controlled Legislature and Gov. Matt Mead, also a Republican, enacted a law that removed her as head of the Education Department and replaced her with a director appointed by the governor.

The superintendent remains a statewide elected official with reduced powers and duties. Hill is challenging the law in a lawsuit.

The report also documented several health complications employees said they suffered while working at the agency. These included high blood pressure, anxiety attacks and losing eyelashes.

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Online:

http://bit.ly/13OBffD

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Information from: Wyoming Tribune Eagle, http://www.wyomingnews.com


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