Drew Madden, president of Nordic, with a sampling of the text messages he sent to Natalee Cruse.
Drew Madden, the head of one of Madison’s most successful information technology companies, is accused of sexually harassing an employee in a complaint pending before the city’s Equal Opportunities Division.
The complaint alleges that Madden, president of Nordic Consulting Partners Inc., subjected Natalee Cruse, the company’s former vice president of marketing, to unwanted sexual comments and conduct, including taking what Madden himself referred to as an “upskirt” photo of Cruse.
Nordic, which serves clients of Epic Systems, the Verona-based medical software giant, employs 500 people. It has been rated one of the nation’s fastest-growing companies, with annual revenues exceeding $100 million, and been named one of the Best Places to Work by Modern Healthcare.
Cruse was fired in February 2014, a few months after discussing her concerns about Madden with Nordic CEO Mark Bakken, who has since left the company. Cruse subsequently worked as chief development officer for the Dane County Humane Society.
“Complainant was sexually harassed by her supervisor, the president and co-owner of Nordic, and then discharged in retaliation for reporting the harassment,” states a complaint filed with the EOD, part of the Madison Civil Rights Department, in April 2014. Cruse is represented by the Madison law firm of Fox & Fox, headed by Michael Fox.
In July 2014, EOD investigator Annie Weatherby-Flowers found probable cause to believe that Cruse was sexually harassed and then fired in retaliation for making her concerns known, a preliminary ruling that lets the complaint proceed. A hearing is scheduled to begin Monday, Oct. 19, before EOD hearing examiner Clifford Blackwell, who will decide the case. The hearing could take a full week or more, as both sides plan to call multiple witnesses.
Fox says Cruse is seeking vindication, reinstatement with back pay and benefits, and an acknowledgement that Madden and Nordic were in the wrong, along with compensatory damages for harm to reputation and emotional distress. Damages would be assessed only after liability is established, in the EOD process now playing out.
Nordic Consulting, the named respondent, is represented by a team of mostly Chicago-based lawyers. In its filings with the EOD, the company does not dispute that Madden sent Cruse suggestive messages, or even that he took a photo of her exposed legs and then kidded her about it. But it argues that this was not harassment because Cruse enjoyed it.
“Sexual conduct becomes unlawful only when it is unwelcome,” Nordic said in a filing. “Ms. Cruse welcomed, actively participated in and even incited Mr. Madden’s alleged conduct.”
Fox & Fox attorney Mary Kennelly, in a filing with the EOD, hotly disputes this, saying the sexually tinged comments and behavior were “completely one-sided — it all came from Madden.” The filing says Cruse “didn’t welcome any of this; for months she tried to redirect to work-related topics and then finally fed up did report it. She was then terminated in short order.”
Nordic denies Cruse was retaliated against, saying she was fired over a series of performance deficiencies. But Kennelly argues that Cruse was never told of any problems until after she complained about Madden’s unwanted remarks.
Weatherby-Flowers, in her finding of probable cause, wrote that Madden’s actions, “given the nature of his position of authority and the nature of his comments and/or remarks, would qualify as hostile environment and violate [Nordic’s] harassment policy as well as the [city’s] equal opportunities ordinance.” And she noted that Nordic “did not provide any documentation...indicating that [Cruse] was not performing her job duties effectively.”
Nordic attorney George Stohner, asked by email whether Cruse was notified of performance problems prior to reporting her supervisor’s conduct, replied: “Ms. Cruse was terminated from her position at Nordic because of a series of job performance failures and for no other reason. Her allegations do not accurately reflect her day-to-day working relationships or her experience at the company. Nordic is committed to building a positive, respectful workplace environment for all employees and does not tolerate harassment of any kind.”
Among the several pages of text messages in the EOD file are ones in which Madden:
- Asked Cruse, in response to her request for a week off to attend a class, whether it was a “modeling class” or a “class on how to walk to your desk and cross your legs.” He then suggested it might be a class for “pole dancing.”
- Advised Cruse: “Don’t pee on your boots. Or your boobs.” Also: “Wax your goat and have a great weekend.”
- Inquired what color bra she was planning to wear, “white or nude?”
- Wrote, in regard to her promotion: “If the Epic and former Epic boys drool over you now...I can’t imagine what will happen once you’re VP.”
- Suggested that Cruse dump her boyfriend and begin dating another man who “could really screw in your shelves too!”
Nordic acknowledges these messages but says they were innocent references to inside jokes, to which Cruse responded lightheartedly. It notes that Cruse, a subordinate employee, often sent Madden collegial messages.
In addition, Cruse’s complaint alleges that Madden complimented her at a conference in Boston for wearing a “low-cut” shirt and suggested she sit directly across from the men they were meeting to “maximize the chances of a sale.” The next day, at dinner, Madden allegedly said Cruse’s breasts “look very big — bigger than they normally do” and asked if she was pregnant.
On April 22, 2013, the complaint alleges, Madden took a cell phone photo of Cruse’s exposed legs while she was riding in the back seat of an SUV. She asked that the photo be deleted, and he gave her his phone to do so.
Afterward, Madden made repeated references to this episode in text messages to Cruse. He lamented not having “that pic of you” to share at the conference and joked about doing research “on how to restore deleted pics and texts.” And when she mused that a subsequent business trip might “score us a client or two,” Madden replied: “Oh, I hadn’t thought about a client. I was just hoping I could get another pic of you laying in the back of an SUV.”
In mid-2013, when Cruse was promoted to vice president of marketing, she received a letter signed by Madden setting forth her new salary ($160,000 a year) and benefits. It stated: “In order for the terms of this agreement to be finalized, a picture of you in the back of a Range Rover must be texted to the signed representative from Nordic Consulting Partners Inc.”
Nordic, through its attorneys, claims Madden took the photo “to preserve a jovial moment.” It says the deleted photo captured only about six inches of Cruse’s leg — not her underwear and upper thighs, as alleged — and hence was not an “upskirt” photo, despite Madden’s references to it as such.
And, as with other allegations, Nordic notes that Cruse “made no mention of the incident to anyone at the company until after her employment separation.”
Cruse’s complaint says she did not report the harassment for fear of reprisal. When she finally did so, “it proved fatal to [her] career at Nordic.” In September 2013, the complaint alleges, Madden launched into a discussion of the relative attractiveness of female staff in which he referred to her as his “true favorite” and reminisced about what she was wearing when they first met. Afterward, Cruse “broke down” and revealed her concerns about Madden to co-worker Peggy Bakken, who in turn spoke with her husband, then-Nordic CEO Mark Bakken.
Mark Bakken met with Cruse and, according to her complaint, told her this was not an isolated occurrence and that he had witnessed Madden act inappropriately with other women. Nordic, in an EOD filing, denies this was said. The filing states that Cruse reported comments Madden had made about the color of her bra, and Bakken saw to it that Madden apologized.
Cruse alleges that Madden subsequently confronted her, angry about being accused of sexual harassment and vowing that he would no longer serve as her “shield” at Nordic. Bakken allegedly also turned hostile, ordering Cruse to “fix the situation with Madden.” After attempting to resign and being persuaded not to, the complaint says, Cruse was “summarily discharged without warning. The only reason given for her termination was that it ‘wasn’t working out.’ [Cruse] was in fact terminated because she had opposed sex discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace.”
Unless the case settles, after the hearing the parties will submit briefs, a process that could run through the end of the year. Blackwell’s decision could take several more months, and is subject to multiple appeals.
Editor's Note: This article was changed to reflect that Natalee Cruse no longer works at the Dane County Humane Society.
