New allegations about former Police Chief Joe Mokwa’s reign in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department describe a hostile work environment for police department employees who challenged a widespread culture of corruption.
Lynda Anderson was employed for five years as the department’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) specialist. Anderson said that, despite her established competence and qualifications, she was fired without cause after she submitted a report critical of a top-ranking department administrator.
“The police department continually practices racism,” Anderson said.
“And on issues of unfair treatment, the tendency is to cover it up or ignore it when it pertains to people attached to the powers that be.”
A spokesperson for the City police confirmed Anderson’s past employment and position but declined to comment on a personnel issue.
Now Anderson’s own EEOC complaint is pending, and she has hired an attorney in anticipation of legal action against the department.
Anderson said her problems started in 2004. She said an employee in the Human Resources Department came to her with a complaint involving HR Director Larry Brockelsby. The complainant alleged that Brockelsby had shown favoritism in going outside the department personnel pool to hire someone for an HR job, which the complainant had sought. Anderson said other knowledgeable employees told her the new hire had connections with department brass.
Anderson said she understood these claims within the political culture that dominated the department, which was new to her in the workplace. “Employees wanted to know which camp I was with,” she said.
Anderson said her investigation of the matter confirmed the allegations of favoritism. She said she met with Brockelsby as a courtesy and related the results of her investigation prior to submitting a formal report.
She said Brockelsby told her explicitly that submitting a report indicating his culpability in the matter would be “totally unacceptable.”
Anderson said Brockelsby’s intent was clear: he was demanding she falsify her EEOC report.
Brockelsby did not return repeated calls from the American.
Anderson said she went to Mokwa, who did little more than transfer her reporting responsibility from Brockelsby to himself. But, she said, irreparable damage had been done to her.
In the years following, Anderson said she endured what she described as “a very hostile work environment.” Her work reviews n which previously “exceeded expectations,” she said, in Brockelsby’s own judgment n were now “not so good.”
She said she was told to once again report to Brockelsby, and her office was moved from the quasi-privacy of the Police Academy building to the HR department. She said the office move created an atmosphere of intimidation for those seeking EEOC assistance, so visits from department employees, as well as their EEOC-related complaints, diminished.
However, Anderson said in late 2007 and early 2008 new employee complaints once again put her at odds with Brockelsby.
As a matter of department procedure, Anderson said, she met with police board president Chris Goodson and Major Paul Nocchiero, secretary to the board. She said Nocchiero vehemently denounced her, her report and her performance in general.
She said she was put on probation for her alleged inability to perform her job, so she could be fired without recourse.
Anderson said that despite the inordinate work load assigned to her during her last few months of employment, she continued to perform at a satisfactory level. However, she said the hostile work environment took its toll. By May 2008, Anderson said, she was forced to take medical leave, suffering from hypertension and psychological stress.
Anderson said she returned to work on July 23 and learned that her probation period had been extended to October without explanation. Soon thereafter, Mokwa resigned following breaking news about a federal investigation into his department’s ties to Metropolitan Towing and the alleged improper and illegal use of seized vehicles.
Brockelsby is one of many signatories to an online petition of support for Mokwa. He remained in place as director of Human Resources.
Anderson said upon her return she was assigned numerous projects with unrealistic deadlines and the hostility of her work environment intensified. Late in the afternoon of October 10, Anderson said, she was terminated without explanation.
“Nobody likes to be fired,” Anderson said, “but, in a strange way, I felt relieved.”
Her attorney Albert Watkins said Anderson’s former position in the department and its inherent, statutory responsibilities make her case especially important.
Watkins said, “It is imperative that members of the department feel comfortable with the integrity of the in-house EEOC personnel.”
