DeKALB | Two sexual harassment complaints filed by two former employees against Eric Dannenmaier, former College of Law dean, are at the center of his recent administrative leave and subsequent resignation.

The two complaints, filed with NIU Feb. 15 by the former College of Law employees, detail allegations of repeated unwelcome sexually graphic comments from Dannenmaier to former coworkers and students. The two individuals who filed the complaints provided the Northern Star with copies of the investigation reports they received.

The two former employees who filed the complaints will be referred to using the aliases Ronda and Megan to hide their identities, as the investigations concluded they are likely the victims of sexual harassment.

Affirmative Action investigations were conducted by NIU officials to determine if there was “sufficient evidence” Dannenmaier created a hostile working environment for Ronda and Megan. The findings were shared in confidential memos from Sarah Adamski, associate director of Investigations, Affirmative Action and Equity Compliance, to Ronda and Megan. Copies of the memos were originally obtained by Above the Law, a legal news website published by Breaking Media, July 11.

The investigations — which included interviews with Dannenmaier and other faculty members and students —  found “it is more likely than not that Dannenmaier sexually harassed [Ronda and Megan] by using comments and language of a sexual nature in the workplace,” according to the April 15 confidential memos.

The investigations documented a history of sexually explicit comments allegedly made by Dannenmaier to Ronda and Megan. One of the complaints detailed a dinner between Dannenmaier and Ronda on Aug. 19. Dannenmaier allegedly asked various sexually explicit questions about her sexual history and preferences, including “if you touch yourself sexually and what you think about when you do,” according to the memo.

During that same dinner, he also allegedly made references to male semen, including asking whether Ronda “believed vegetarians ‘swallow’ (in a reference to swallowing male semen)” and “suggesting girls told him that male ‘semen’ tasted different if he were a vegetarian,” according to the memo.

Dannenmaier was interviewed by Adamski and Title IX Investigator Michelle Johnson Feb. 22 and March 9. During those interviews, the allegations made by Ronda regarding the Aug. 19 dinner — as well as other sexually explicit statements he allegedly made — were ones Dannenmaier “was not able to categorically ‘deny’ as indicated by his repeated response that he ‘did not recall’ making the alleged statement,” according to the memo.

During the course of the investigation, it was discovered Dannenmaier allegedly made “similar remarks and connotations of a sexual nature to students, faculty and staff” which corroborated the allegations made in the Feb. 15 complaints. The investigations found Dannenmaier also allegedly made sexually suggestive remarks to a student in his Constitutional Law I class.

Further corroborating the complaints made on Feb. 15 were a series of contradictory statements made by Dannenmaier during the course of the investigations. Dannenmaier initially told investigators the Aug. 19 dinner between him and Ronda did not include any discussion of a sexual nature. He later told investigators the conversation that evening “included a ‘number of topics, including sex,” according to the memo.

Dannenmaier’s story changed on more than one occasion, while Ronda and Megan “provided consistent testimony during the course of the investigation,” according to the memos. Other faculty and staff members who witnessed interactions between Dannenmaier and Ronda and Megan — without being provided any details about the complaint — provided testimonies that verified the complaints filed.

Before resigning from NIU, Ronda and Megan expressed their objections to Dannenmaier’s alleged misconduct. Furthermore, the memos state both Ronda and Megan “did not reciprocate the unprompted or unsolicited sexual comments or language by asking Dannenmaier reciprocal questions or comments of a sexual nature.”

Despite Ronda and Megan expressing their objections to his alleged conduct, “Dannenmaier continued to engage in the complained of comments and language after you explicitly informed him …  that the conduct was sexual in nature [and] made you feel uncomfortable, thereby making any further comments unwelcome in nature and actionable under sexual harassment laws, policies and procedures,” according to the memo.

Ronda  said she filed the complaint against him a week or two before her last day at NIU, thinking the investigation would not begin until after she had left, according to her interview with the Northern Star.

That was not the case, however, as she said NIU immediately took action, as they felt the situation was egregious enough to get the investigation started right away.

She said other people came forward to express similar comments they had heard from Dannenmaier, at which point she realized this problem was more widespread than she thought.

The investigations found “Dannenmaier’s unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature was so severe and pervasive enough to create a hostile working environment for you,” according to the memos. Ronda and Megan both opted to move out of state without having a job secured in their new locations as a direct result of Dannenmaier’s alleged conduct, according to the memo.

Dannenmaier was “truly shocked” by the allegations made because he said Ronda and Megan contradicted the notion of a “hostile work environment” by their behaviors and statements, as noted by Anne Kaplan, vice president of Outreach, Engagement, and Regional Development during a review of the record, according to his June 27 resignation letter. His comment about being “truly shocked” is one that Ronda finds hard to believe.

“Any reasonable person would know that the comments that he made were absolutely inappropriate,” Ronda said.

In his resignation letter, Dannenmaier expressed a belief the allegations were “without merit,” but he decided to take a temporary leave during the investigation to eliminate any conflict that would prevent him from “supporting” the College of Law.

Dannenmaier resigned June 27 but is temporarily working to complete a project with the Division of Research and Innovation Partnership that will “create an area of excellence in the fields of environmental law and policy, which eventually will inform policy at the local, state and national level,” said NIU spokesperson Joe King.

Dannenmaier, who began as dean June 1, 2016, was placed on voluntary administrative leave following the Feb. 15 complaint made to the Human Resources Office.

King said Dannenmaier is expected to leave the university once he completes his project with the Division of Research and Innovation Partnership on or before Dec. 31.

Officials are aware the memos have surfaced but are unable to confirm or deny facts due to pending litigation, King said. Dannenmaier was granted a request for an injunction Friday that prohibits the university from releasing his information.

NIU officials did not provide any documents related to Dannenmaier’s misconduct to the Northern Star. Dannenmaier did not respond to a request for comment.