Content warning: This story contains information about sexual harassment and domestic violence.
District 8 Ald. MGR Govindarajan, alongside eight members of the Madison Common Council and Mayor Satya-Rhodes Conway, introduced a resolution Wednesday to censure District 18 Ald. Charles Myadze following a sexual harassment investigation.
The investigation found insufficient evidence to prove Myadze broke state law despite at least three women alleging he sexually harassed them. One of the women was District 2 Ald. Julianna Bennett, who said in a statement Thursday Myadze “persisted and refused” to respect her boundaries on multiple occasions and threatened her after seeking guidance on the situation.
The initial investigation into Myadze conducted Aug. 9 found sufficient evidence of workplace hostility and harassment, but was recently revised after Myadze’s attorney requested the case be reopened.
“The City should be a safe work environment,” Govindarajan said in a Wednesday post on X. “The patterns of unethical behavior we've seen are unbecoming of an alder, and Myadze should resign immediately.”
The incident did not qualify as workplace harassment because Myadze’s behavior did not disrupt the women’s ability to perform their jobs, according to the investigation.
While a censure will not remove Myadze from the Common Council or committees, Govindarajan told The Daily Cardinal he moved to censure because “it is the right thing to do.”
“When the Common Council gets together, and if they vote in favor of this, they are saying we disapprove of it,” Govindarajan said. “It is not what an alder should be doing. It is inappropriate.”
Bennett, District 5 Ald. Regina Vidaver, District 3 Ald. Derek Field, District 16 Ald. Jael Currie, District 17 Ald. Sabrina V. Madison, District 6 Ald. Marsha A. Rummel, District 4 Ald. Michael Verveer, Council President Yannette Figueroa Cole and Rhodes-Conway sponsored the resolution.
Bennett previously told the Cardinal that legal reform is in order because women in these situations are often conditioned to “keep the peace” and remain cordial during abuse.
Because independent elected officials, such as alders, are not under the same jurisdiction as city employees, the city cannot hold alders to the same standards as city employees, according to a statement from Rhodes-Conway.
“If the same behaviors that Ald. Myadze engaged in was done by a [city] department head, that person likely would face anything from a simple warning to termination,” Govindarajan said. “But because of the fact that this conduct was conducted by an alder, there's no real way to hold that person accountable other than censuring them.”
Govindarajan told the Cardinal he believes the best thing for Myadze to do is resign immediately.
“Let’s take any constituents, and hypothetically they have experienced sexual harassment or domestic violence,” Govindarajan said. “How are they going to reach out to their alderperson if that alderperson is known to be sexually harassing folks? That is a disservice that Charles Myadze is doing to his own constituents.”
The resolution will be formally introduced at the council meeting Nov. 26 and voted on Dec. 10, according to Govindarajan.
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Marin Rosen is the city news editor for The Daily Cardinal and a second-year journalism student. Throughout her time at the Cardinal, she's written articles for city and state news. She is an intern at Channel 3000 News and runs the Badger Beat on Instagram and TikTok. Follow her on Twitter at @marin_rosen
