Third-Party Investigator Releases Report Regarding Fargo Communications Department
The investigator acknowledged the validity of differing perspectives from various levels of authority, but ultimately sided with those who said the department failed to meet basic standards of workplace culture.
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Forty-one pages in total.
That’s how long it took to summarize the findings of Christina Sambor, an independent third-party investigator from Sambor Law & Consulting, who was retained by the city of Fargo to investigate its communications department.
Thirty pages were devoted to the main investigation which began after now-former CommsGA employee Zoe Bolonyi submitted a formal complaint on April 16, 2025.
Nineteen interviews took place between June 26th and July 14, 2025.
Those discussions – and subsequent findings pursuant to the investigation – led Sambor to conclude that the cultural failings within the department began long before the submission of the formal complaint.
Here are the broad strokes of the report’s findings.
There was a clear divide between the leadership team – including Chief Communications Officer Gregg Schildberger and Deputy CCO Katie Ettish – and the rest of the staff.
Those beneath the leadership team uniformly painted a picture of an overly demanding, hostile, and toxic work environment.
The leadership team mostly externalized the blame, saying they felt unsupported by administration and undercut by the Human Resources Department, and placed blame on recent negative press coverage of CommsGa.
And city employees from other departments said while CommsGa produced excellent work, their relationship with the department was strained, with Schildberger’s aggressive conduct repeatedly called into question.
The report ultimately concluded as much, with the investigator praising the quality of the department’s output, but finding that the evidence shows that culture and management practices are not aligned with City of Fargo policies.
It remains to be seen in what ways this report may shape the department going forward.
City Administrator Michael Redlinger responded to a request for comment with the following statement:
“The City of Fargo has received the investigative report that was completed by an outside legal firm. As an employer, we take employee concerns seriously. We are focused on the future and moving forward.”
You can read the reports in their entirety here.
