Phoenix attorney Dennis I. Wilenchik has filed a notice of claim against the city of Cottonwood on behalf of current Cottonwood City Councilman Derek Palosaari.
Palosaari was appointed to council on June 6 to fill the vacant seat of Councilwoman Tosca Henry.
Palosaari was the target of a recall petition effort in January and is not running for reelection in 2024.
Wilenchik’s notice names Cottonwood Mayor Tim Elinski and Human Resources Director Amanda Wilber and former Cottonwood City Manager Scotty Douglass and City Attorney Jenny Winkler. The claim alleges a “coordinated attack on Derek’s character” during a Dec. 19 council meeting, which Elinski had agendized on Dec. 18, related to a resolution condemning Palosaari for alleged sexual harassment of at least five female city staffers, which was backed by a memo Wilbur sent to Douglass detailing the alleged harassment.
Palosaari’s notice of claim “denies that he has ever been untoward with any city employees” and states that he violated no laws or policies.
Documents obtained through a public records request sent to the city of Cottonwood shortly after the Dec. 19 meeting and provided later that month detailed an incident that took place at the Dec. 8 city of Cottonwood employee appreciation event.
The city report stated that the victim, whose name was redacted as she was a victim, reported that Palosaari “grabbed both of my shoulders and pulled me towards him and whispered in my ear, ‘I am not trying to offend you, but have your boobs always been that big?’”
The woman pulled away from Palosaari, and her husband, who noticed she was upset, asked Palosaari what he said. According to the victim’s statement in the report, Palosaari said to her husband, “‘I asked her if her boobs have always been that big.’”
The husband pulled Wilbur and Palosaari outside to report the incident immediately. According to Wilber, as stated in the report, the husband explained that Palosaari had just sexually harassed his wife, then repeated the comment, saying that it was inappropriate and disrespectful to her and to him.
“Derek apologized for any offense immediately, and later fully admitted to the comment,” Wilenchik’s notice reads.
Palosaari’s notice makes various statements about his relationship to the victim, who is also not named, which could not be independently verified.
According to the city report, the victim spoke with Douglass and Winkler the following Monday, Dec. 11, and was assured they would “keep her separated from ever having to work with” Palosaari.
“I asked them to ensure that Derek stayed away from me,” the victim stated. “Deep down I felt uncomfortable, disrespected and regretted not having him leave. Ultimately, I would like to avoid all contact with him in the future.”
The notice claims, “Winlker also told him he was prohibited from entering non-public spaces where city employees work.” However, a Dec. 12 email to Palosaari stated instead that Douglass “request[s] that you abstain from visiting city facilities,” later clarified as “non-public employee spaces” specifically located in two city buildings, “until we have been able to meet with you.”
Palosaari refused to meet with Douglass, a fact omitted in Wilenchik’s notice of claim:
Douglass sent a notice to city staff about the request that Palosaari to avoid certain areas, after which a second victim contacted Wilber and detailed additional incidents that had made her feel uncomfortable, which included Palosaari reportedly commenting on her body and clothes, telling her “that she looked cute,” asking her about weight loss and coming around her desk, getting close to her head and telling “her that she smelled good and sniffed her hair.”
The second victim also reported that Palosaari had asked for another person’s contact information so he could discuss housing with her, although that person “doesn’t work on housing and we never give out personal info.” The second victim noted comments Palosaari made about a new staff member that visibly made her uncomfortable. Wilber reached out and asked her to provide a written statement.
One of the victims also provided Wilber with the names of three other women who she believed had had similar encounters. Wilber met with them on Dec. 13 and detailed their complaints in the report, a public record, that was provided to Douglass on Dec. 18, titled “Harassment of an Employee by a Council Member.”
Wilenchik’s notice states the investigation “was not warranted, and would only seek to encourage others seeking favor to ‘pile on.’” The notice does not state what alleged “favor” one or any of the victims sought.
Wilenchik’s notice does not address any of the other complaints of sexual harassment except the catalyzing incident at the Dec. 8 party.
Wilenchik’s notice first states that Palosaari “has never seen any sort of investigative report,” yet then states the investigative report was provided “to council members after a council member made a request for the report and was provided [with it] a few days after” the Dec. 19 meeting. The notice then details statements in the report he claimed Palosaari had not seen. The notice does not clear up this discrepancy in facts.
“However, the report was somehow provided to Verde Valley journalists,” Wilenchik adds.
The Cottonwood Journal Extra requested the Human Resources report after it was mentioned at the Dec. 19 Cottonwood City Council meeting through the city of Cottonwood’s Public Records Request portal on cottonwoodaz.gov, and the 18-page report was provided, as requested, on Dec. 28.
The notice states the harassment complaints were “undated and vague, and no names were released of individuals who claim to have been victimized by Derek.”
Victims’ names are routinely redacted to prevent retaliation or intimidation and the EXTRA’s policy is not to publish the names of victims, even if they had been provided in the report.
The notice claims Palosaari has been subjected to defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and “false light.” The notice also claims the council violated Palosaari’s equal protection rights and due process without an “evidentiary hearing.”
The due process clause states the government cannot “deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
However, Palosaari was never charged with any crime, nor could he be by a legislative body; Wilber’s Dec. 18 email to Douglass noted explicitly that the rules in the employee handbook do not apply to elected council members who are not employees; and the Dec. 19 resolution condemning Palosaari’s conduct towards female employees was an action by a political legislative body, not a judicial one.
Palosaari responded several times to a request for comment on May 10, but did not answer any followup questions about his statement by press time.
He wrote: “A minor comment made in jest with what was believed to be a friend, blew up to cause such undeserved destruction and annihilation to my life, as well as my families [sic], for the rest of my life by a few misguided individuals who thought it more important to do so than to follow the law is a sad commentary on the current society we have created and unfortunately has landed in Cottonwood, Arizona.”
Regarding the identity of “a few misguided individuals,” Palosaari also did not clarify whether he meant the four persons named in the notice or the numerous female staffers who came forward with complaints.
Palosaari also did not specify what state or federal law or laws the named persons or the female victims violated in registering their sexual harassment complaints with the Human Resources Department when asked by the EXTRA.
Palosaari is demanding $2 million to settle the claim.
