Dismiss Bias Charge By DOT Exec Over Subordinate's Writing

By RICHARD STEIER

A complaint by a ranking Department of Transportation official that a subordinate discriminated against him on the basis of race, color and religion by writing unflattering comments about him in this newspaper has been dismissed by the agency's Equal Employment Opportunity Officer.

BRANDON WARD: No bias, just facts.

Tom Whitehouse, DOT's Executive Director of Bridge Maintenance and Repair, filed the charges last November against Brandon Ward, an Assistant Mechanical Engineer who heads the New York City chapter of Blacks in Government and frequently contributes columns to The Chief.

Columns 'Insulted and Demeaned'

He asserted that several columns written by Mr. Ward between April and October of last year were used "to insult, demean and discriminate against me," in the process creating a hostile work environment. Contending that Mr. Ward was "disrespectful, insubordinate, racist and anti-Catholic," he asked DOT Assistant Commissioner and EEO Officer Ann Williams to order Mr. Ward "to stop writing articles about internal policies and attacking myself as well as other DOT staff" and suspend him for at least 10 days without pay.

Ms. Williams, without elaborating, ruled that the complaint was "unsubstantiated."

Over the course of several columns last year, Mr. Ward had cited DOT's decision to appoint Mr. Whitehouse to his position although he is not a licensed Engineer as an example of the merit system being shelved in favor of rewarding more-nebulous qualities. He never actually identified Mr. Whitehouse by name, although DOT employees would have known he was referring to him because he cited his specific title in the agency.

Ward: All About Qualifications

In his response to the complaint earlier this year, Mr. Ward denied that race and religion played any role in his criticism of Mr. Whitehouse's appointment and said nothing in any of the columns would lead to the conclusion that these were his motivations. He stated in the memo to Ms. Williams, "Mr. Whitehouse conveniently ignores the fact that my articles are critical of his qualifications - he does not have a college degree and he's not an engineer (managing an engineering-based and decision-driven unit ..."

In a March 13 letter to DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn prior to Ms. Williams's ruling, Mr. Ward pointed out that current city job standards for the position held by Mr. Whitehouse included a baccalaureate degree.

In his response to Ms. Williams regarding a portion of Mr. Whitehouse's complaint objecting to his having discussed portions of his columns with other DOT workers based at 17 South St., Mr. Ward said this amounted to nothing more than "shop talk."

In his letter to Ms. Sadik-Kahn, Mr. Ward accused Mr. Whitehouse of having "manufactured the charge of a 'hostile work environment' to legitimize marginalizing and diminishing my leadership role in the division by: 1) disallowing my use of the office title, Project Manager, and assigning me to a non-decision-making role with an undetermined title in a yet-to-be-determined field location, and 2) continually usurping my seniority and authority in the unit's chain-of-command ..."