Investigator: ‘Petty slights and workplace annoyances’
An investigation of the Fayetteville Police Dept. conducted by Atlanta attorney Lorene Schaefer over allegations of a hostile work environment and retaliations against employees by former Police Chief Steve Heaton and former Maj. Kevin Gooding has concluded that those allegations were without merit.
The investigation centered on allegations from a department employee that a hostile work environment existed in the department under Heaton and Gooding and that employees had been retaliated against for raising personnel-related concerns.
“The behavior the witnesses described focused, however, on concerns about communication and leadership and the increasing demands that they ‘do more with less’ as employees resigned from the police department and were not replaced due to budget constraints,” Schaefer reported.
“Employees also expressed frustration with some of the department policies implemented by the former chief and major. Perhaps the policy with which they were most frustrated was the chief’s policy that required supervisors investigate vehicular accidents involving department employees who were operating city-owned vehicles,” Schaefer said.
As for allegations of retaliatory actions made against employees for raising personnel concerns, Schaefer also noted that those were without merit.
“… [N]one of the alleged acts of ‘retaliation’ described by the witnesses rise to the level of prohibited adverse acts of retaliation under the EEOC’s (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) guidance. Rather, they are, at best, the type of petty slights and workplace annoyances that the EEOC specifically provides are not retaliatory adverse actions,” Schaefer said.
Citing an example, Schaefer said the reporting employee expressed concern that the Gooding accused that employee of making another employee look sad. This action was described as being “retaliation.” Even assuming that Gooding did make this statement, it was not a retaliatory adverse action of the type that would be prohibited. It is, at most, a workplace annoyance, said Schaefer.
The investigation’s conclusion noted a generalized sense of frustration with the leadership of the former chief and major.
“It is difficult to pin-point the source of this frustration and the investigation was into allegations of hostile work environment and retaliation, and not an employee moral study or management study,” Schaefer said.
Both Heaton and Gooding retired in April.
