Embattled CEO of major SD social services agency steps down

SOUTH DAKOTA (SDNW)–The CEO of one of the state’s largest nonprofit social services agencies, who was the subject of a federal sexual harassment and toxic workplace settlement in 2022, has quit his position.

The July 1 resignation of Peter Smith from the top leadership post at the Rural Office of Community Services (ROCS) in Wagner, South Dakota, was immediate. It came roughly 18 months after the agency paid a $320,000 settlement to several former female employees whose claims of workplace sexual harassment and retaliation by Smith were substantiated by a federal investigation.

ROCS, with an annual budget of roughly $15 million, is mainly funded through federal and state dollars. The agency provides housing, food and transportation assistance to low-income residents in a 22-county area of southeastern South Dakota roughly from Yankton to Mitchell to Chamberlain.

Smith’s sudden departure came amid ongoing turnover at the agency and closely followed the resignation of another top ROCS employee, former human resources official Michelle Figland. Figland would not comment to News Watch, and there’s no indication at this point that the two departures are related.

The attorney for ROCS, Richard J. Rylance of MorganTheeler in Mitchell, declined to answer several questions posed in an email from News Watch. But Rylance did confirm that Smith resigned on July 1, adding that ROCS transportation director Andrea Irwin has been appointed interim CEO as the search for a new agency director moves forward.

In a phone interview with News Watch, Smith said he resigned in part because, “after the EEOC thing and everything that happened, I figured it’s time to move on.”

“My reputation has been soiled like nobody’s business, and so I would rather just go forward,” he said.

Rylance said Smith’s departure is not expected to disrupt ROCS programming in any way.

“At this time, ROCS has the staff, training, and experience to continue delivering services to its clients throughout South Dakota,” he wrote.

EEOC: Harassment, bullying, retaliation by Smith

A two-year investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission resulted in a December 2022 settlement in which ROCS paid the $320,000 rather than contest the findings that Smith sexually harassed female employees at the agency and retaliated against certain employees who complained by terminating them.

News Watch and the True Dakotan newspaper in Wessington Springs first reported on the EEOC settlement and the harassment of female employees at ROCS in January 2023. One former employee said Smith often directed sexual innuendos toward female employees, hugged or touched them in uncomfortable ways, and created an atmosphere of bullying and retaliation against anyone who complained.

The EEOC settlement announcement in 2022 said , “The EEOC found that the female employees were harassed by executive director. Despite complaints to management and the board of directors, the EEOC found the harassment continued over several years.”

ROCS board members contacted by News Watch referred all questions to Rylance. According to the ROCS website, the board includes: chairman Jim Kasten, vice chairman Fred Kill and members James Deines, Georgia Chicoine, Dallas Laffey, Wendy Figland, Rachel Fischer, Brenda Jaton and Julie Dennis.

In the initial News Watch report , EEOC Minneapolis office director Cherie Doak said the agency has no authority to recommend or enforce employment decisions at entities it investigates. However, Doak at the time said that “had (Smith) been an employee of mine, he would not still be in his position, let me just say that.”

Victor Chen, communications director for the federal EEOC office, said he could not comment on whether any new complaints had been filed against ROCS or Smith, or if any new investigations were underway.

“Under federal law, possible charges (complaints) made to the EEOC are confidential, and we are prohibited from releasing any information, or confirming or denying their existence,” Chen wrote to News Watch in an email.

Rylance said ROCS continues to abide by requirements of the EEOC settlement that included additional staff training, updating of internal systems of handling discrimination complaints and providing the EEOC with regular updates.

“In addition to the policies and procedures which were put into place, ROCS staff and administration have continued to attend regular trainings aimed at maintaining a safe, respectful working environment for ROCS staff and clients,” Rylance wrote to News Watch in an email.

Annual audits of the agency and federal 990 nonprofit tax filings reviewed by News Watch do not indicate any obvious financial improprieties or procedural problems.

Smith has separate nonprofit business at home

In a review of state records, News Watch found that since April 2019, Smith has operated a separate business from his home in Mission Hill, South Dakota, that retains an active 2024 designation from the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office.

According to state documents, Beyond Expectations is a nonprofit corporation designed to “provide human and social services” to clients, though records in the Urban Institute nonprofit database indicate the business operates as a temporary homeless shelter.

The documents also show that Smith’s wife, Karen Smith, his son, Malachi Smith, and a current employee of ROCS, director of strategic planning and marketing Linsy Tice Duba, are directors of Beyond Expectations. Peter Smith told News Watch that Duba is his step-daughter.

Duba told News Watch in an email that Smith registered the business for another family member and that it has been “collecting dust” since its launch. Duba said she was listed as a director of the business because she intended to do marketing and web design.

Rylance did not respond to questions related to Beyond Expectations, and there is nothing to indicate Smith’s side business was related in any way to his resignation.

In a phone interview, Peter Smith told News Watch that the home business retains legal status with the state but is not active.

“No, I wanted to at one time, and it’s still registered like that, but I haven’t really done anything with it,” he said. “Back in the past, I would help people and stuff like that.”

Smith: No harassment, no retaliation

Peter Smith told News Watch he was prevented by the ROCS board from responding to the EEOC findings when the 2022 settlement was made public. But he denied harassing any women and said anyone who left the agency did so of their own volition.

He said some employees resigned because Smith required them to perform well at their jobs and follow federal guidelines in their work.

“You’re not supposed to sit around doing your own private business when you’re on federal funding,” he said. “If they’re calling me some horrible person, then why are they telling people I’m the best boss they ever had, that I’m patient and kind of decent?”

Smith, 60, addressed rumors of his past criminal history by noting that he has two prior DUI convictions and “that I have in Pennsylvania, in 1997 or 1999, an indecent assault that wasn’t true.”

“Stupid me did not practice boundaries,” he said.

Smith said he left ROCS because he felt that, “if I cause as much harm to people just in the way that I manage, I chose to resign.”

Smith said he does not plan to work in the social services field anymore.

“I’m moving on and just trying to go forward and to make sure my name is not in the public eye again or anything negative anyway,” he said. “I’m totally walking away from the agency, not just the agency, but I’m not going to try this industry anymore (because) I realize it just doesn’t work for me.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.