Brownsville, WI. –“It is extremely disappointing that the Governor’s campaign and media would malign the thousands of employees of a respected Wisconsin-based corporation with campaign ads filled with falsehoods and unsubstantiated attacks. This action borders on defamation of a proud Wisconsin business. Michels Corporation stands by our 62-year track record as a leading family-owned Wisconsin company that has provided opportunity to thousands of Wisconsinites while building the nation’s infrastructure.
To be clear, any harassment, of any type, simply put, is not tolerated.
The facts regarding these ads and incomplete media reporting are:
- Consistent with our strong anti-retaliation policy, Michels Corporation does not fire employees for alleging harassment or discrimination.
- These allegations, some of which are more than two decades old, were unsubstantiated and all were resolved with no admission of wrongdoing by the company. Focusing on them ignores the overall history and sterling record of the company.
- Over the 24-year period in question, Michels Corporation has delivered over 75,000 W-2’s to employees. Cherry picking five allegations out of that number to paint a negative picture of the company is deeply irresponsible and unfair. These five allegations represent an extremely small percentage of the company’s total workforce across the last 24 years and most of these employees have had consistently positive work experiences as a result of Michels Corporation’s culture that has made it one of the top Wisconsin companies and one of the leading construction companies in the U.S.
- Michels Corporation has a strong workplace record when compared to Wisconsin and national private company averages.
- Ruth Michels was Chair of the Board and CEO for 22 years at Michels Corporation, and she led the company to have its core values of integrity, trust and respect, which drive all that the company does.
- Our longtime Vice President of HR and Chief Compliance Officer is a woman.
- These allegations have all been resolved with no admission of wrongdoing—allegations, which anyone can make, are not facts. In the campaign ad, the Evers campaign chose only to feature salacious allegations of the Complaint. The Evers campaign intentionally omitted the company’s reply to each allegation in its Answer.
- Michels Corporation provided CBS 58 with these facts, which were not fully included in the reporting and is a shame that the media would malign a Wisconsin-based company with a great track record.
Michels Corporation has well-established policies against harassment and discrimination. These policies have clearly set forth steps for the timely reporting of any violations. Our company leadership, human resources and legal teams treat every allegation seriously, investigate all allegations and, as appropriate, take corrective actions to create a stronger workplace. From our founding to today, we work hard to create a positive and innovative working environment that is constantly improving at everything we do.
“Not only are these accusations unsubstantiated and resolved with no admission of wrongdoing, we ensure that any potential harassment, however limited, is dealt with and those who come forward are protected. Retaliation against any person is strictly prohibited. Our non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies applies to all individuals involved in our operations. Any member of management who receives a complaint or is on notice of potential discrimination or harassment is under an absolute obligation to pass the information on to Human Resources within 24 hours. Supervisors who fail to do so are subject to discipline,” made clear by Karen Wuest, Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Compliance Officer at Michels Corporation.
Michels Corporation provides rigorous training at all levels of the organization starting from senior management right to the field and makes significant investments that are aimed to create the safest, equal opportunity working environment possible, notably:
- $5,000 invested per employee on training each year
- Invested $1.1 million on training and seminars
- 260,000 average training hours each year, which includes anti-harassment and discrimination training
- Provide harassment training to new and current employees
- Anti-harassment and discrimination training protocols and investments are reviewed annually, and the updated training is delivered in annual safety trainings for every employee”
