Wells City Attorney David Frundt

The Wells City Council discussed a couple of employee-related matters Monday night — an internal investigation of two city employees and pending litigation of a former worker.

City Attorney David Frundt says claims of misconduct involve someone in the street and police departments.

He says both employees remain on the job and are being paid until the issue is investigated.

“It could potentially result in disciplinary action that would result in reduction of their duties,” Frundt says.

Council members asked the city attorney how they should address the allegations.

Frundt says the council could conduct an internal probe or hire someone.

“I don’t think the council has the time or ability to do these investigations,” Councilman Ron Gaines told the other members.

Mayor Shannon Savick asked Frundt to rate the severity of the alleged misconduct on a scale of 1 to 5.

“I would say a 3 or above,” Frundt told Savick.

“The allegations are of a nature that could limit the ability of these employees to continue in their capacities,” adds Frundt.

The city attorney didn’t want to discuss the nature of the allegations or how the council became aware of them.

Frundt told council members that he and City Administrator Jeremy Germann have had numerous conversations regarding the matter.

The council gave Frundt and Germann the go-ahead to see how much it would cost to hire an investigator.

In another matter, the council went behind closed doors for about 20 minutes to address pending litigation involving a former employee.

It’s the second time in the past three months a meeting has been closed to the public to discuss the issue.

Savick says no decision was made in closed-session, there was just a lot of discussion.

Frundt says it’s his understanding that a claim has been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

To read more of this story, see this week’s Register.