The City of East Lansing says an independent investigation found no violation of city policy or law by City Manager Robert Belleman following allegations of sexual harassment and bullying.
The decision, which sparked immediate backlash from audience members, was shared during a special City Council meeting Thursday night.
Thursday night's decision comes just days after city employee Erica Dziedzic-Hernandez spoke during public comment at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, accusing Belleman of sexual harassment and abusive behavior.
After the council returned from closed session following public comment, East Lansing Mayor Erik Altmann, waiving attorney-client privilege, moved for the release of the city’s investigation into the sexual harassment allegations made by Dziedzic-Hernandez, who filed a complaint in September 2025. The city says it expects to release documents to the public.
“An independent investigation was conducted per city policy to examine allegations of harassment and bullying leveled against East Lansing City Manager Robert Belleman by East Lansing Grants Coordinator Erica Dziedzic-Hernandez,” Altmann said, reading from a statement.
Altmann said the city retained counsel from the Miller Canfield law firm in October 2025.
“After a thorough investigation, independent investigators found no violation of city policy or law by City Manager Belleman, but recommended that he receive leadership training,” Altmann said. “City Manager Belleman has since been meeting with an executive leadership expert. Following the conclusion of the investigation, Dziedzic-Hernandez continues to be employed by the City of East Lansing, and she remains in her position reporting to City Manager Belleman.”
Altmann added that the city “moved swiftly” and has “a robust policy in place that covers situations like this.”
“Everybody deserves process,” Altmann said. “Everybody has rights, and that applies to complainants and it applies to respondents. It’s a relief for me to finally be able to make this statement to the public that these claims were unfounded.”
Immediately after Altmann finished, many audience members began to boo, curse, and yell “shame,” prompting Altmann to gavel and tell them they were “out of order.”
“You’re out of order,” one audience member yelled back in response to Altmann.
Following several disruptions, the council took a brief recess before continuing.
“When there is a conversation about violence and sexual assault, I take it extremely seriously,” Councilperson Steven Whelen said. “From my life, from my career, I begin by believing. That is a mantra that I have lived by. I do think that people have the right to speak.”
Following the end of the meeting, East Lansing resident Tony Gomez shared his dissatisfaction, saying he doesn’t believe the allegations were unfounded.
“That’s not how you handle an investigation. This man has a known history of questionable workplace environments,” Gomez said, referring to Belleman’s firing in 2023 from the Saginaw Board of Commissioners following allegations of a toxic work environment.
“The fact that they think they handled this correctly is comical.”
Following members of the public’s reaction to Thursday night's ruling, among other dissatisfaction toward the city, Gomez said he believes public trust will continue to go in the wrong direction.
“This was the City Council’s one chance to prove that they were taking our concerns about the trajectory of the city seriously, and they basically just spat in our faces,” Gomez said. “It doesn't get better from here, not until every one of those people are gone.”
East Lansing resident and former City Council candidate Josh Ramirez-Roberts said he’s disappointed in the city’s findings.
“If you talk to city employees right now and talk to past city officials who left recently during his tenure, they’ll tell you he’s not a very pleasant person to work with,” Ramirez-Roberts said.