By Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer
CHAPEL HILL – Two Town of Chapel Hill Public Works Department employees who were fired last month have filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and a grievance with the town.
The state chapter of the NAACP has given its support to the men, saying they should be allowed back to work by Thanksgiving.
The men’s attorney, Al McSurely, claims in the filings that the firing of his clients, who are black, is discriminatory and unfounded, while a report issued by a private detective hired by the town describes interviews with co-workers that allege intimidating behavior.
Kerry Bigelow and Clyde Clark were placed on paid administrative leave on Sept. 20 and then fired on Oct. 29. In his letters of termination, Public Works Department director Lance Norris wrote that he had received a number of complaints from residents and employees about the men’s behavior –including “threatening and intimidating actions†toward co-workers and creating a “hostile work environment†– and, after an investigation by town staff and a third-party investigator, had concluded that their employment would be terminated immediately.
Bigelow and Clark say they received no warnings and asserted that they were being targeted for having filed grievances in the past alleging racial bias in job placements and promotions.
“They’re trying to make an example out of us,†Clark told The Citizen in October.
In his filings on behalf of the men, McSurely outlines what he contends is retaliation by the town against Bigelow for having claimed racial discrimination in being passed over for a job he believed himself best qualified for, and for raising other workplace concerns. Bigelow was eventually informed in a letter from then human-resources director Valerie Meicher that there were “inconsistencies in the administration of the [job] interview process,†but he still didn’t receive the promotion. Clark, McSurely alleges, was targeted for his association with Bigelow and for having registered similar complaints.
But a report by Kevin von der Lippe of Capital Associated Industries (according to its website, a “non-profit employers’ association†with offices in Raleigh and Greensboro) states that an investigation revealed that Bigelow and Clark had engaged in “ongoing negative and inappropriate interactions†with citizens along their waste-collection route and that they had been “consistently insubordinate to their supervisor,†undermining his authority.
The 14-page report details an incident in July just prior to a Chapel Hill visit by Vice President Joe Biden. A resident allegedly told the collectors on the truck on which Bigelow and Clark work that the vice president would be visiting her neighbor and requested help picking up leaves and waste on the road.
According to the report, “The witness said that when it was mentioned that the Vice President was to arrive, that the collectors wanted to know to what address so they could attend. She perceived this as very hostile and went on to say that they made a comment that the Vice President should visit with the ‘common man.’â€
Summaries of interviews with co-workers in the private investigator’s report contain allegations of insubordinate behavior and poor job performance by Bigelow and Clark.
McSurely counters that the co-workers were intimidated by the interview process, that his clients received no notice of any resident or co-worker complaints against them and that Bigelow was given excellent reviews by his supervisor until February, when he filed his grievance.
McSurely writes in his filing that the investigator’s report was filed a day after the department gave the men notice to attend a pre-disciplinary conference. “In other words,†McSurely writes, “it was a foregone conclusion the men were going to be fired, based on a report that had not yet been submitted.â€
“We want the guys back to work as soon as possible, that’s our main objective,†McSurely said on Tuesday.
The state chapter of the NAACP held a rally in front of Town Hall last Monday evening and released a statement that read in part, “Mutual respect is the hallmark of a public body, such as the Town of Chapel Hill. What was done to these men showed unilateral disrespect. What is wrong with talking across the table with each other?â€
“We’ve got some momentum,†McSurely said, “but we need much broader support, letting people know what the town has done.â€