A former Topeka deputy and interim city manager has been placed on administrative leave from his position as a Johnson County city manager after a video of him masturbating was sent anonymously to city staff.
Doug Gerber, who worked for the City of Topeka in various leadership capacities between 2014 and 2020, had been working as city manager of Shawnee since March of this year when an anonymous third party sent the video the various employees in the city government in late September, according to the report.
Employees Received Email from Anonymous Third Party Who Wanted to Reveal Gerber's 'Online Behavior'
According to a report from The Kansas City Star, several employees received an email on Sept. 29 with a video attachment showing what appears to be Gerber filming himself masturbating on a couch.
The sender was then blocked by the city's information technology department, which later sent employees a message warning them that it had come from "a disturbed individual trying to cause issues with the city."
"We don't hesitate to expose people involved in these dubious and un-Catholic practices," the sender told the newspaper when they reached out for comment. The sender added that he "wanted to reveal Gerber's online behavior."
Shawnee City Council Meeting Called on Wednesday Night Over Scandal
The Shawnee City Council met Wednesday night for more than two hours in a closed session over the matter. After coming out of the executive session, the City Council announced that Gerber had been placed on administrative leave and scheduled another special meeting Monday.
Gerber's contract with the city of Shawnee addresses termination, resignation and severance pay. Per his contract, the city must pay six months' worth of severance pay to Gerber in the event the city council decides to terminate him, as reported by the Shawnee Mission Post.
"However, in the event the Manager is terminated for cause, or because of his conviction of a felony crime or any crime involving moral turpitude, which includes personal, the City shall have no obligation to pay Severance Pay," his contract reads.
Before he was hired in March to take over as city manager for a troubled Shawnee city hall, Gerber had been working as a client manager for JEO Consulting Group and as a county project manager for the State of Kansas Office of Recovery, per his online LinkedIn page.
