Modesto manager accuses city of gender bias

Modesto’s longtime solid waste manager, Jocelyn Reed, said City Hall has a culture that discriminates against female employees – especially older ones and those who are assertive – and said a report that calls for eliminating her job is riddled with errors and falsehoods.

She challenged the report Wednesday during the City Council’s Audit Committee meeting in which representatives from Moss-Adams – the consulting firm the city has hired as its auditor – reviewed their efficiency study of the solid waste division. The division includes compost, green waste, street sweeping, forestry and solid waste operations.

Reed made her claims of discrimination in an interview after the meeting. She said the city is retaliating against her after she complained that a male manager with the same responsibilities was paid more and for complaining that her bosses stopped her from hiring more forestry workers even though she had the funding for the positions. The city faces a daunting backlog in tree maintenance because of previous budget cuts to forestry. Moss-Adams recommends that the city hire a contractor to deal with the backlog.

“They are trying to get rid of me one way or the other,” Reed said.

Deputy City Manager Joe Lopez said Modesto “will take all appropriate steps to determine the facts” regarding Reed’s claims “and make sure its policies are enforced.”

“We take these allegations very seriously,” he continued. “We absolutely will not and do not tolerate discrimination based on gender, age or any other protected category and believe in the fair and equitable treatment of all city employees.”

This is not the first time Reed has raised these issues with the city.

She was one of three female city workers who sued Modesto in February 2005, alleging they were punished for raising concerns about gender discrimination. Modesto agreed to pay them $3.25 million in March 2007 to settle their lawsuit. In the lawsuit, Reed claimed she was unfairly passed over for promotions twice. She claimed her boss, then-Public Works Director Peter Cowles, monitored her email and her movements in and out of City Hall.

Reed, 64, started working for Modesto in June 1993 as an integrated waste specialist and was promoted to solid waste manager in October 1999. Her annual salary is $111,478.

Modesto placed her on paid administrative leave April 19. Reed said Modesto has conducted three investigations of her: one that accused her of using inappropriate language, a second that accused her of playing favorites in whom she promoted and a third that accused her of giving special treatment to forestry workers by providing them with treats, such as pastries and cookies.

Reed said she did use inappropriate language but said the two other investigations are baseless. She said she followed city human resources guidelines in making promotions and provided forestry workers with treats when she met with them at 6:30 a.m. for training sessions or staff meetings. She said she paid for the treats out of her own pocket and was meeting with the forestry workers because the superintendent was on medical leave and forestry needed extra attention.

Lopez said that although he would like to respond to Reed, he could not because these are active personnel investigations.

Moss-Adams conducted its study between January and May, and Reed said she asked the auditors to interview her but they did not. She said because of that, their report has incomplete and inaccurate information about her job duties. The report recommends eliminating her position and using the money to hire an additional code enforcement officer and perhaps an administrative analyst.

She also said an employee survey Moss-Adams conducted that determined there was a perception of favoritism in the division also was flawed. She said it was not clear in the survey when employees noted dissatisfaction with management bosses whether they meant Reed or the division’s other managers and supervisors.

Reed gave the Audit Committee a copy of her 19-page report rebutting the auditor’s report. The committee is made up of Councilmen Bill Zoslocki, Mani Grewal and Doug Ridenour. They directed Moss-Adams and city staff to respond to Reed’s report and report back to them at a future meeting.

This story was originally published August 10, 2016 at 7:35 PM with the headline "Modesto manager accuses city of gender bias."