PSC vice president presents response‑team report; commission places member on remote work and seeks suspension

Jennifer Fielder, vice president of the Montana Public Service Commission, briefed the interim committee on a recently adopted response‑team report that examined workplace complaints against Commissioner Brad Molnar. "This report includes findings regarding the conduct of this particular commissioner," Fielder said, noting a total of seven complaints and two phases of independent investigation appended as redacted executive summaries.Fielder told the committee the commission voted to adopt the report's recommendations and to impose a remote‑work requirement for Commissioner Molnar while the threat of retaliation was judged to remain "high." She said the commission requested that the governor consider suspending Molnar for a period commensurate with the harm unless he took steps that included accepting responsibility, delivering a sincere public apology and completing required trainings. "If he does those things our recommendation as a commission is that he could come back," Fielder said.The report and recommended personnel measures were presented as protective steps for staff and to preserve regulatory function; Fielder emphasized that reforms and training implemented over recent years remain in place but that the commission lacks enforcement tools over commissioners in many respects. Committee members received redacted copies of the response‑team report and asked staff to include the matter in future briefings and committee records.