The board chair and executive director of Stepping Stone, a local non-profit alcohol and drug recovery agency, confirmed a former employee threatened a sexual harassment suit against the organization. Four off-the-record sources with close ties to the organization said the allegation was against director of operations, Marc D’Hondt and an out-of-court settlement was negotiated to compensate the former employee, Eric Martin. Prior to working as an outreach coordinator for Stepping Stone, Eric Martin was an adult video performer.

Two of the anonymous sources also stated Martin, who made the allegations against D’Hondt, will receive approximately six months’ salary and is eligible for unemployment benefits.

Stepping Stone executive director Cheryl Houk would not confirm specific details about the allegation, but did acknowledge that the incident was brought to her attention in May.

“We have total, absolute commitment to taking any allegations against sexual harassment very seriously, and we took this situation very seriously,” said Houk. “This is the first time that we have had an allegation in that direction of sexual harassment. The fact that we had a clear policy on sexual harassment made us handle it very, very appropriately.”

Houk could not divulge any other details about the actual case against Stepping Stone due to a confidentially agreement between both parties, but did say an outside investigator was brought in to interview current employees and others who may have had insight into the allegations.

“It’s [bringing in an outside investigator] fairly common of an allegation of this sort, because it takes the people that are here out of the investigation, and it was [conducted] by an objective person that was brought in,” she said.

Houk said the investigation was inconclusive as to whether or not the sexual harassment did take place between the two individuals. She said she could not confirm that a settlement was paid out to the accuser.

Off-the-record sources claim that if Houk chooses not to retire, she will be forced out of the organization.

Houk said she is not being asked to resign as executive director because of the sexual harassment investigation, but did acknowledge she has been thinking about retirement, and would notify the board of directors of her decision at that time.

“I’ve been with Stepping Stone for over 17 years and the last thing I would do is leave [over] a claim against anyone in the agency,” said Houk. “When I decide to retire, I will inform them [the board] first, and we’re going to put a press release out about it.”

Stepping Stone board chair Craig Knudson confirmed the settlement and said the organization did not want to risk increasing their liability insurance policy premium if a claim had to be made against them.

“We’ve never had anything quite like this before, but we are really nervous about our own errors omission and malpractice insurance and representation insurance,” he said.

Knudson said he is not aware of any other allegations against staff members at Stepping Stone and that policies at the agency have not been changed since this allegation. He also said the settlement had been paid out long before Stepping Stone’s Living Out Loud fund-raiser, which took place Sept. 24-25.

Knudson would not comment on whether or not D’Hondt was placed on administrative leave due to the allegation.

Former board chair Steven Johnson, who served as chair for three years until he resigned in January of 2004, said he was not aware of any other allegations against D’Hondt during his tenure as board chair, but was made aware of several questionable situations involving D’Hondt from former employees and others after he left the board.

One situation involved a former employee who was hired despite objections from a Stepping Stone supervisor. Questions arose as to whether the individual was hired based on qualifications or D’Hondt’s personal interest in the employee. Johnson said he was informed by an employee that it was obvious to the staff why this person was hired.

“When concerns were raised over the new employee’s possible use of drugs at work, those concerns were dismissed by Mark [D’Hondt] specifically,” he said, adding that he addressed this issue with members of the board.

Although Johnson said he didn’t have firsthand knowledge of a relationship between D’Hondt and Martin, he said he was made aware of a relationship between the men from other sources. He called the situation “disheartening.”

“I think that is an indication of a failure of leadership at the organization…,” Johnson said. “That means that money isn’t going to help people recover from alcohol and drug abuse. I think that had the situation been handled more professionally, it probably could have avoided litigation and cost to the organization.”

Johnson said one of the main reasons he resigned from Stepping Stone as board chair was “the failure of the current board to grapple with the responsibility of providing appropriate oversight of the executive director.”

He said the professional relationship between Houk and D’Hondt was lacking, and that each would cover up for the other’s mistakes. Johnson added that the board did not address a 40-percent turnover in staff on an annual basis, and would not consider input that may have conflicted with the senior leadership’s philosophy.

“I would suggest that probably the best thing for the organization is to look for new leadership outside the organization,” Johnson said of the executive director position.

A former Stepping Stone employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Gay & Lesbian Times he was part of the investigation involving D’Hondt and Martin. Although he was not aware of a sexual relationship between them, he said Martin told him D’Hondt had made some inappropriate comments and actions.

The former employee said the relationship between Houk and D’Hondt was “enmeshed in a very unhealthy way.” In terms of the sexual harassment investigation, he believes only a portion of the information was presented to a few board members, and thought that was a mistake. He said he did not know if D’Hondt violated Stepping Stone’s sexual harassment policy, but did say he thought D’Hondt’s behavior was unprofessional on multiple occasions while he was employed at the agency.

The former employee said that if Houk does retire or is forced out of the position as executive director, he is unsure that D’Hondt is the appropriate person for the job.

The Gay & Lesbian Times attempted to contact Mark D’Hondt on three separate occasions. D’Hondt failed to return the telephone messages.