MEA employee alleges racism

WASILLA — Allegations of racism ended up before the Matanuska Electric Association’s Board of Directors this past week with the board agreeing to take the unprecedented step of hearing a personnel grievance.

“Cooperative boards generally do not hear personnel complaints,” MEA Assistant General Manager Tuckerman Babcock said.

The allegations were first brought before the board at its Sept. 8 meeting. Donte Kelly, an African-American MEA lineman, has filed numerous complaints against the utility with various organizations, including the Anchorage Equal Opportunity Commission and the Alaska Human Rights Commission.

According to the Sept. 8 board meeting’s minutes, Kelly’s attorney, Bill Ingaldson, said he decided to take the step of coming to the board in an attempt “to avoid litigation and save MEA members money.”

“Mr. Ingaldson stated [the discrimination] began when [Kelly] started working at MEA, became progressively worse, then more subtle,” according to the meeting minutes. “Mr. Ingaldson went on to say Mr. Kelly had turned the other cheek and looked the other way, but when it got to the point of the mailbox, a hangman’s noose and being told not to apply for certain jobs, that was something he couldn’t turn his cheek on anymore.”

A hangman’s noose was allegedly left on Kelly’s desk. The mailbox incident is left unexplained in the meeting minutes.

Babcock said that in every instance except one — the mailbox incident, which Babcock said had first come to management’s attention at the Sept. 8 meeting — he, as the utility’s head of human resources, has conducted an investigation. And, he said, management has taken appropriate action in each instance.

“MEA has investigated every allegation that Mr. Kelly has made [and] that we obviously do not tolerate discrimination, whether it’s sexual harassment or racial or ethnic, religious, etc.,” Babcock said. “MEA’s responsiveness has been upheld in every forum.”

In a half-hour interview Friday, Babcock did not delve into any of the substance of the allegations, instead sticking, in vague terms, to what management has done about them.

“This is the sort of issue where the co-op tends to be at a disadvantage because this is a current employee,” Babcock said.

The rules, he said, state that public discussion of personnel matters is off limits. It’s a question of fairness not just to Kelly, but also to those alleged to have wronged him and the co-op itself.

There is a potential for lawsuits from Kelly and those he’s accusing, Babcock said, and the situation is made even stickier when considering Kelly is a union employee.

An attorney hired by MEA, Patti Vecera, said that by hearing the complaints, the board is opening itself to potential litigation from Kelly or other employees. She said the board would set itself up as a personnel board, opening a door to complaints from employees that would be hard to shut.

“We are suggesting that you allow management to investigate,” she said. “The board should not act, again, as a super personnel board.”

In the minutes from the Sept. 8 meeting, board President Lois Lester is quoted saying, “I’d just like to state that there would be no fear if the truth is being told by each board member.”

Board member Janet Kincaid seems to take Lester’s side, saying, “When I got elected, one of the things I ran on, along with Mr. [Peter] Burchell, is that we would have mediation, not litigation. I am appalled at the number of lawsuits that MEA gets involved in.”

At the Sept. 8 meeting, the board decided to hold off on the matter and this past week, board members David Glines and Larry DeVilbiss objected to hearing the complaints at all, citing mostly the concerns Vecera expressed. Both asked to be excused. The board excused DeVilbiss but not Glines.

The members then went into closed session, ostensibly to hear the complaints. The board is generally prohibited from taking any action while behind closed doors. Babcock said after the meeting was opened again to the public the board took no action and simply moved to the next item of business.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.