Mammoth report faults Seattle street-division managers

Seattle's transportation department spent more than $500,000 to investigate a slew of discrimination complaints by its workers, but when the yearlong probe was completed the department learned that a bigger problem was its own managers.

A redacted report of the investigation released Friday describes rude and abusive behavior by managers and inconsistent hiring and promotion practices that created widespread feelings of favoritism and discontent among the rank and file.

The private investigators described several equal-opportunity offenders in the street-maintenance division who seemed indiscriminate in their rudeness to subordinates, making it hard for investigators to determine the extent to which race or gender discrimination was a problem.

A persistent complaint appeared to be a perception of favoritism, according to the report, which The Seattle Times requested three months ago. Of the 114 employees interviewed, 40 said they believed favoritism existed.

The beleaguered transportation department, criticized for its handling of December's snowstorms, paid attorneys at a Mill Creek law firm $190 to $300 an hour to investigate the street-maintenance division in an effort to reduce the city's exposure to lawsuits from discrimination complaints.

But the investigation morphed into something of a yearlong human-resources inquiry, where employee after employee vented their frustration in hopes that something might change.

Initially, the city had agreed to spend about $75,000 on the investigation conducted by the MFR Law Group. In all, the firm has conducted 77 investigations for the city at a cost of $1.91 million, according to the mayor's office.

When the city started the investigation in June 2007, "people were allowed to say whatever they wanted to say," transportation chief Grace Crunican said Friday.

Crunican kept the investigation going for a year. Explaining her motivation, she said, "We had to track it down. I just don't condone discrimination in any form."

The Times requested the investigative report in March during its reporting on the city's botched snowstorm response, which left Seattle paralyzed by icy streets for two weeks in December.

Transportation employees at the time told The Times the department's problems went beyond snow removal and had been the subject of an extensive investigation, the results of which had not been made public.

2,300 pages released

Three Seattle Times reporters spent four hours each reviewing sections of the report, which the city released late Friday morning.

The city initially said the report would include some 8,000 pages of documentation, but Friday's release numbered 2,300 pages, many of them heavily redacted.

The discrepancy could not be accounted for Friday, and the department's public-disclosure office did not respond to an e-mail inquiry asking for clarity.

Investigators who prepared the report noted their own difficulty in obtaining legal proof of discrimination, in part because the department lacked good record keeping, had varying criteria for promotions and relied too heavily on candidate interviews for hiring.

Minority workers cited particular problems with the department's North Asphalt Unit, which served as a jumping-off point for more senior management jobs. Its 18-person crew is filled with longtime employees — some of them family members — who hunted, fished and golfed together, the report said.

Black employees complained of a racially charged atmosphere there, including use of the "N-word" in the workplace, since at least 2002.

Employees complained that the crew, which the report said has never had a nonwhite manager, tolerated a "racially hostile" atmosphere that was apparently known to upper-level managers, investigators wrote.

Not all discrimination complaints came from minority employees.

One white woman claimed that an African-American supervisor discriminated against her by denying her a promotion and treating her differently than he treated an African American co-worker.

Investigators did not find sufficient evidence of discrimination based on race or gender. But they did find the female employee was treated "less favorably" than other crew members.

The report described the environment for female employees in the surface-repair unit of street maintenance as "unsupportive," and noted that problems were known but ignored by managers.

Bias complaints

Within the street-maintenance division, some managers were found to be abusive, but they were equal-opportunity offenders in the areas of hiring, discipline, promotions and communications, according to the report.

One cement finisher complained of race and gender discrimination and retaliation after he reported another employee's allegedly racist comments, the report said.

Investigators concluded there was no discrimination or retaliation. The cement finisher complained about a lack of assistance on some jobs. Investigators say they found that others had it worse.

The finisher, who is African-American, also reported a female manager who had called him a "fool."

Investigators said the comment was inappropriate — and noted that one manager said "fool" was more likely to offend an African-American male.

But investigators noted that the woman who said it was "frequently rude and disrespectful regardless of race."

Changes continue

Crunican said her department has made and will make changes to address such problems. She noted that the department is keeping better track of discipline and has put in place protocols for hiring and training.

"There are simple management processes that need to be put in place," Crunican said.

Further changes are expected at the department, where two other consultants — one hired to improve internal operations and the other hired for snowstorm response — will make recommendations for change.

Susan Kelleher: 206-464-2508 or skelleher@seattletimes.com