A human resources department review into the exodus of five permanent female workers from the Cache County Clerk/Auditor’s Office since the beginning of 2021 found no legal or personnel policy violations by new County Clerk Jess Bradfield.
Although three of the women have said they felt forced out of their jobs by Bradfield — who launched a major reorganization of the clerk’s office shortly after assuming the post last October and cut several part-time employees’ hours — the review ordered by County Executive David Zook determined Bradfield crossed no lines.
“Cache County takes all allegations seriously and makes every effort to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure compliance with all county policies and personnel laws,” the Human Resources Department wrote in a three-paragraph summation of its investigation released late Friday afternoon. “As such, this investigation has been ongoing for five weeks. The research conducted by the Director of Human Resources involved interviewing 12 current and past employees of the Clerk/Auditor’s office and reviewing personnel law and county personnel policy and procedures. This investigation did not identify any personnel law or county policy violations by Mr. Bradfield. No further action is recommended.”
The summation provided no specifics from the interviews.
Seven minutes after Zook emailed the HR findings to The Herald Journal, Bradfield emailed his response to the investigation, stating, “From the beginning, our office has welcomed and encouraged this inquiry because of the transparency it would bring. We were confident that we had acted appropriately, which has now been affirmed.”
For more on this story, visit The Herald Journal.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aim to inform readers across the state.