A former senior Department of Defense official who served briefly during the end of the Trump administration has been found to have created a toxic work environment, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General.
A DOD Office of Inspector General report published on Wednesday revealed that investigators concluded Michael Cutrone, former acting assistant secretary of defense for international security, created a toxic work environment in part by failing to treat his subordinates with dignity and respect.
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“We determined that Mr. Cutrone’s harassing behavior was not limited to a single incident, but instead was a related, recurring, unwelcome, and offensive course of conduct,” the report said. “His behavior, evaluated under the totality of the circumstances adversely affected the work environment of his subordinates. As a result, some subordinates tried to avoid him and avoid being ‘Cutrone’d.’ Subordinates with decades of experience in the DOD described Mr. Cutrone as the most toxic boss they ever worked for and someone who poisoned self-confidence, created divisions, and was loathed and despised by his workforce.”
Investigators interviewed 32 witnesses who worked in Cutrone’s office who had relevant information, and an “overwhelming majority” of them “provided specific examples of Mr. Cutrone’s actions or behaviors that they said negatively affected the work environment.”
Cutrone did not deny many of the incidents described but said he couldn’t recall them, though investigators said in the report they found his “explanations of his own conduct and responses to our questions insufficient to justify the repeated and extensive pattern of conduct described by numerous witnesses."
The former CIA intelligence officer became the acting assistant secretary of defense for international security on Sept. 1, 2020, and was resigned on Jan. 14, 2021. The DOD hotline received a complaint about his behavior on Dec. 15, 2020, and two days later, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy referred two anonymous complaints to the Inspector General’s Office. The office initiated the investigation in February 2021, after his departure.
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The Dec. 15 complaint alleged that Cutrone “made two employees cry, berated and yelled at his employees,” while the two anonymous complaints alleged that he “verbally abused,” “criticized employee in a disrespectful way,” and bragged about “bullying” subordinates.
Ten witnesses told reporters that Cutrone either yelled at them directly or they witnessed him yelling at another subordinate, while 13 people told them that he caused them or others to cry, become emotional, or hold back tears.