Marathon County Library Employees Claim Toxic Work Environment As Director Is Placed On Leave

The director of the Marathon County Public Library and two other leaders are on unpaid leave while the Library Board investigates allegations that they created a hostile work environment for staff.

The allegations include at least one instance of reported sexual harassment that some employees say was not dealt with appropriately.

An attorney in the Marathon County Corporation Counsel’s Office confirmed library director Ralph Illick, business manager Tom O’Neill and support services manager Matthew Derpinghaus had been placed on leave after a complaint led to an investigation into misconduct. The attorney, Michael Puerner, declined to offer further details, saying there is an “active investigation and review is occurring right now.”

The Marathon County Library Board will meet Thursday morning for a closed-session discussion. It could then take further action on the matter, including taking steps to discipline or fire staff.

WPR interviewed current and former library staffers and others familiar with the allegations. Most of them requested anonymity to discuss sensitive topics or because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

A common thread in their accounts was that Illick and O’Neill operated closely together, playing favorites with some staff members and targeting others with unfair complaints and insults. Some described territorial, even bullying, behavior from the two.

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“When Ralph and Tom had an issue with someone, they made it very clear,” said Amy Ryan, who worked as a library assistant from 2012 until 2014. “(They) would often make comments to staff members that this person didn’t understand their job, should never work at the library. It was extraordinarily uncomfortable, because these were people I knew and respected.”

An employee complaint led to the investigation by the Library Board. An outside law firm interviewed more than a dozen people to create a report. Public documents show the board met in closed session during its April 19 meeting to discuss the matter and scheduled a special meeting May 19, which ended with the suspension of the three men.

The details of the investigation have not been made public. Three people with direct knowledge of one incident described in the report said some employee complaints stemmed from a sexual harassment allegation against a library manager that, they said, did not result in serious disciplinary action or substantive changes. The victim in that case ultimately left the library.

Marathon County Library Board president Sharon Hunter declined to comment. WPR could not reach Illick, O’Neill or Derpinghaus by deadline.

Some library employees said they felt guilty about not having done more to address the deteriorating work environment. They said good librarians had been hounded out of their jobs for pretextual reasons. Several said they had considered leaving, as well.

Ryan said she values the services the public library provides and wishes she could have stayed in her job longer. But she felt she couldn’t continue there under toxic working conditions.

“When you are struggling with your work environment, it becomes exponentially more difficult to provide those services,” Ryan said.

The leaders’ leave comes after Illick stirred controversy earlier this year by spearheading an effort to detach the Marathon County Library from the Wisconsin Valley Library System and instead join the Madison-based South Central Library System. That move would have devastated the Wisconsin Valley Library System, which has its office inside the Wausau headquarters of the Marathon County Public Library. Critics said it could harm service to Northwoods and Wausau libraries, as well. The Library Board voted in January in favor of the change, but has delayed bringing the matter to the Marathon County Board, which would also have to approve it.

Illick was hired as library director in late 2009, and has held the job since 2010. According to a social media profile, Derpinghaus has worked there since 2016.

Ryan said she spoke with a Library Board member after she left the job seven years ago.

“I was honest with her,” Ryan said. “I said it was toxic and there were some bad things happening. I really hoped that my feedback would have made a difference back then.”