By Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer
CHAPEL HILL – According to the attorney for two Town of Chapel Hill Public Works Department employees fired for alleged insubordination and intimidating behavior, the town failed to follow its own grievance procedure, hastily terminating the men’s employment due to their active role in a unionizing effort.
Clyde Clark, one of the two workers fired in October, appealed his firing to the town’s Personnel Appeals Committee last Wednesday night at the Chapel Hill Public Library in a hearing open to the public at Clark’s request. Kerry Bigelow, fired at the same time as Clark and for the same alleged reasons, went before the committee on Feb. 3.
The men’s attorney, Al McSurely, has argued that his clients were fired in retaliation for grievances they filed with management that alleged racial bias in job placements and promotions and unsafe working conditions. The town alleges that the men were fired for inappropriate behavior toward supervisors and residents along their waste-collection route.
As was the case in Bigelow’s hearing, the town’s first witness spoke by telephone, identified only as “Ms. Johnson.†She was joined Wednesday night, also by phone, by a “Ms. Jones.†Both women said they had felt intimidated by Clark and Bigelow, but had asked only for a crew change, not that the men be fired.
“All of my complaints were based on problems we were having with our trash collection,†Jones said.
The men’s supervisor, Larry Stroud, said that working with Clark and Bigelow was “a rocky road,†and that he had written Clark up after receiving complaints of trash not being picked up along his route. Stroud said that he spoke to Clark about the complaints, but that Clark “acted like it didn’t matter.â€
Public Works director Lance Norris said of complaints of the men’s behavior, “When it rises to the level that you’re intimidating citizens and yelling at a citizen … that’s when the line is crossed.â€
But in later questioning from the committee, Norris stated that he had learned from an investigator hired by the town that Stroud was going to his boss, Harv Howard, with complaints about Clark, but that they went no further.
“During the investigation, it was brought to my attention that Mr. Stroud had communicated with Mr. Howard and nothing was done,†Norris said. Howard has since been let go by the town.
Clark denied the claims of intimidating behavior.
“They’d have you believe that I was out there acting like a maniac,†Clark said.
Of Johnson and Jones’ allegations, he said that growing up in Chapel Hill he’d learned that as a black man it was important to be careful how you acted around a white woman.
“If I’d done all that, I wouldn’t be in this hearing,†he said. “I’d be in jail.â€
Clark defended his efforts to organize town employees with UE Local 150, which has supported workers who have filed grievances, saying, “I don’t see the problem with people wanting to sit down and better themselves.â€
He said waste-collection drivers try to save time on their routes and that as a result “there’s a high risk of someone getting hurt.â€
Clark and Bigelow were seen by town management as the two primary organizers for the union, McSurely said. They were denied representation in their meetings with management regarding their suspensions, he said, and subsequently weren’t allowed on town property.
“What was the rush to get them fired?†McSurely said. “The rush was that the union was building a movement at the same time and had a big meeting scheduled for the same day they fired them.â€
The Personnel Appeals Committee, comprised of Chapel Hill residents, has until Feb. 17 to make a recommendation regarding whether Bigelow should be rehired and until Feb. 23 for Clark. Those nonbinding recommendations will be presented to Town Manager Roger Stancil, who will make the final decision on both men.