Deerfield Township Trustees voted unanimously Sept. 17 to indefinitely suspend Brian Kelderhouse, a part-time firefighter/paramedic with the department, who was accused of sexually harassing a female member of the fire department.
Trustee Tiffany Havens stated at the meeting that Kelderhouse is suspended “indefinitely, with the expectation that he [tender] his resignation” by Sept. 24 or before. Havens added that Kelderhouse must “also agree to terms and conditions agreed upon by both attorneys.” No further statements were given.
Trustees Ed Dean and Laura Lindberg also voted yes in the 3-0 decision to terminate Kelderhouse. It follows an investigation into the sexual harassment allegations against Kelderhouse, which, as of the middle of August, had cost the township $14,000.
A separate sexual harassment investigation is also being conducted into allegations against Havens by a road department employee. He stated in a July 1 letter to the trustees that Havens had made “unwanted sexual advances,” inappropriately touched him, engaged in “unwanted flirting” and rubbed his shoulders.
That case is still unresolved. Havens did not respond to a request for comment, and the man who brought the allegation declined to comment pending the investigation.
The internal proceedings against Kelderhouse began when a female Deerfield Fire Department employee notified township trustees on Nov. 20, 2023, that Kelderhouse had created “a hostile work environment including sexual harassment,” not only for her but for other female department members.
The complainant alleged that although she and Kelderhouse had a good working relationship, he had sent “many photographs” of himself without a shirt on to her and other female department members.
“It’s extremely inappropriate, but I’ve always tried to remain [professional],” she wrote in the complaint. “I’ve always just ignored the messages and not said anything because I didn’t want to create an issue in the department, or to have to worry about him getting mad and what he would do because I told someone about it.”
In an interview, Kelderhouse had said he sent her and other people shirtless photos of himself working out at the fire station because “I’m proud of the way I look.”
The Deerfield Trustees suspended Kelderhouse with pay when they received the complaint and retained attorney Gregory A. Beck of the North Canton law firm Baker Dublikar to represent the township.
Kelderhouse said he thought he and the woman were friends, and that the complaint came as a complete surprise.
The complaint letter also referenced Kelderhouse asking a mutual friend to send him a topless picture of the complainant.
“This is not OK,” she wrote. “I should not have to come to work and worry about being sexualized by a co-worker. Nor should I have to worry about a co-worker asking one of my best friends for a picture of my breasts.”
Kelderhouse doesn’t deny having made the request, but told The Portager in an article published Aug. 14 that he was joking. He said he asked for the nude photo while she and the friend were in a hot tub together. He said he received a photo but immediately deleted it from his phone. He also claimed that an investigator working for Beck told him it was a fake.
The woman also said Kelderhouse had sent her “very unprofessional messages,” allegedly calling her out for telling other people that she neither liked nor trusted him.
“I have said no such thing to anyone about him,” she wrote. “And even if I had, the point of the conversation that I was having with him was to try to find coverage for an open shift at the fire station, not to debate about whether or not there’s he-said-she-said drama.”
She alleged that Kelderhouse was refusing to communicate with her at all, even when she sent him messages asking if he was available to cover shifts at the station.
“This makes it harder for me to do my job, because he is playing games and being immature instead of just answering a simple yes or no question,” the woman wrote, closing with the accusation that, “Brian is exhibiting extremely petty and inappropriate behavior and something needs to be done about this.”
Kelderhouse had not submitted his resignation to the trustees as of late Sept. 19.
Tom Hardesty is a Portager sports columnist. He was formerly assistant sports editor at the Record-Courier and author of the book Glimpses of Heaven.