Once upon a time last year, a high-level manager brought penis-shaped cookies to the mayor’s office at the Anchorage Municipality. It was a tawdry treat that turned into a workplace tit-for-tat that turned into a political maelstrom that became fodder for the mainstream media.
Several current and former city employees contacted the Anchorage Ombudsman, who works for the mayor-maligning Anchorage Assembly, alleging that the Human Resources Department/Labor Relations had failed to investigate the complaints the employees had filed with them regarding the alleged inappropriate behavior of the department director, including distribution of the penis-shaped cookies at City Hall.
The manager, Purchasing Director Rachelle Alger, was also accused of being mean.
“Multiple current and former MOA employees contacted the Ombudsman alleging inappropriate behavior by an MOA department director. The individuals alleged that the director had ‘yelled, cursed, and screamed at them’ and stated that the director’s behavior was ‘aggressive, intimidating, and disruptive’. The employees alleged that the director had bullied and harassed them, “including distributing penis shaped cookies in City Hall.”
Ombudsman Darrell Hess has determined in his report to the Assembly that allegations that the Human Resources Department/Labor Relations failed to properly investigate employee complaints about inappropriate behavior are not supported by the evidence.
The complainants told Hess the director had created a hostile and toxic work environment. The Ombudsman first ascertained that the employees had not yet filed complaints with the Human Resources Department, but had brought their complaints to him first. He referred them to Human Resources to start the process. Some of the employees did filed complaints with HR, while others did not, stating to the Ombudsman that they thought it would be a waste of time, as it was rumored that the mayor had a ”no fire list” and that the director was on the list.
Several employees who filed with Human Resources/Labor Relations later contacted the Ombudsman, alleging that HR/LR had not taken their complaints seriously and had not investigated them.
Ombudsman Hess opened an investigation into that allegation. In the process, he reviewed emails, notes, and files in Human Resources/Labor Relations and found documentation that the department had, indeed, taken the matter seriously and acted on it.
“The Ombudsman’s Office also reviewed multiple other documents related to whether HR investigated the employee complaints regarding the alleged behavior of the director. The documents reviewed by the Ombudsman’s Office and their interviews with current and former MOA employees, demonstrated that LR had taken the employee complaints seriously and that they had investigated all the employee complaints that had been filed with them regarding the alleged inappropriate behavior of the director, including the alleged distribution of penis shaped cookies at City Hall,” Hess wrote.
His report to the Anchorage Assembly is in the Tuesday meeting packet for the meeting, which begins at 5 p.m. at the Loussac Library on the ground floor. The full report can be viewed here:
