Camden County Commissioner Accused Of Sexual Harassment, Retaliation; Investigation Begins

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. — A formal investigation is under way after Camden County Commissioner Steve Dougan was accused of sexually harassing an employee and retaliating against another employee who addressed reports of the alleged harassment.

In closed session meetings on Feb. 24 and March 2, the County Commission discussed the sexual harassment allegations made by a county employee against Dougan. The details of the allegations were not revealed in the meeting minutes. On March 2, the commission agreed to engage the law office of Vessell Bridges Murphy, to help the county with the matter. The county will pay a $5,000 retainer with additional legal fees possible.

The morning of March 2, the commissioners received a letter by email with the subject: Notice of Formal Complaint of Retaliation. In it, the employee (whose name was redacted from the copy of the letter received by LakeExpo) said they had received a report in January from multiple people “that Commissioner Dougan engaged in inappropriate comments of a sexual nature.” The employee said they addressed those reports, resulting in Dougan being coached in closed session on Feb. 2, 2026. That’s when the employee claims the retaliation by Dougan began.

“Immediately following that closed session, Commissioner Dougan’s demeanor toward me changed abruptly and negatively,” the employee wrote. “Beginning the afternoon of February 2, 2026, Commissioner Dougan began engaging in rude, hostile, and antagonistic conduct toward me—conduct that had not occurred prior to that morning’s coaching session.”

While portions of the Feb. 24 meeting minutes are redacted, those minutes reveal Dougan voiced a complaint about that same employee allegedly withholding records from him. The minutes reveal that employee claimed to have done so because Dougan was a “danger to Camden County.” In their March 2 letter, the employee also stated Dougan’s request had been “a single verbal request made in March 2025. No written request was made at that time, and no follow-up request of any kind was made for approximately eleven months.”

Vessell Bridges Murphy is investigating the matter on behalf of the county.