About a year and half since a University report and investigation on illegal discrimination and harassment in the Facilities & Services department was released, minority workers claim the investigation was a “sham” and are coming out with their own experiences of discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

The F&S department is in charge of the physical condition of the campus grounds. Their work includes construction, maintaining buildings and producing and distributing utilities.

The Stroke

Melvin Boatner drives every day from Bloomington, Indiana to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois for work, a three hour commute. He estimated he leaves each day at 5:30 a.m. and gets home between 8:45 and 9:15 p.m.

Hours before his drive back on Nov. 8, 2017, he suffered his first stroke.

Boatner serves as the Associate Director of F&S human resources, employee relations and payroll. His stroke happened minutes after a meeting with F&S leadership. After falling and being helped by other employees to a nearby conference room, Boatner had no idea what was going on.

“I sat in that room, and I was crying,” he said. “I was sitting there crying, going ‘Something is really wrong here, but I don’t know what it is.'”

F&S leadership Helen Coleman, Eric Smith and Maureen Banks were all present at the meeting before Boatner’s stroke in the hallway. Banks and Smith went after to check in with Boatner.

It’s here, Boatner said, they showed negligence by not suggesting any further medical help, and Banks suggested that he could leave 15 minutes early.

“You telling me I can go home right now when I’m obviously in some kind of distress, wasn’t really helping the situation,” Boatner said. “And then Eric said, ‘Well he’s coherent, so he must be okay.’ They showed no caring at all.”

Due to medical public Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act laws, University spokeswoman Robin Kaler said in February that she couldn’t speak explicitly for the University regarding the stroke.

She said normal practice for when an employee is in physical distress is “to reach out and try to assist that person as best we can. Or to at least offer assistance, whether they take it or not, we can’t control.”

Nicole McCurry is an F&S human resources worker that filled in for Boatner while he was recovering. She said that while F&S employees do not receive training for what to do when an employee has a stroke, she thinks an ambulance should have been called.

“I’m pretty sure that people felt bad that an ambulance wasn’t called. Knowing that what happened to him after the fact, it was too late of course,” she said.

Coleman said in an email response to Boatner that the University strongly disputes that it or any of its employees were “negligent” in regard to his version of the Nov. 8 events.

“First and foremost, I want to be clear that we care deeply about the health and well-being of our employees, including yourself. I encourage you to continue to seek appropriate healthcare as needed,” Coleman wrote.

After driving home, Boatner visited the doctor and stayed in the hospital until he could continue rehabilitation at home. He was absent from work for nine-and-a-half weeks.

Other F&S employees agreed with Boatner about the workplace culture and describe it as hostile due to a lack of accountability and retaliatory acts towards employees who speak out.

To Francine Ausley, F&S human resources specialist, Boatner has shown a history of voicing the concerns of others who feel they’ve been discriminated against. In 2014, after an incident of a canceled promotion for a minority coworker, Boatner voiced his disagreement with his-then immediate F&S boss, and Director of Shared Administrative Services, Curt Taylor.

Ausley said that they didn’t see “eye to eye on how that all went down” and that Taylor held it over Boatner’s head for almost two years.

In January 2016, the F&S executive management team decided to alter their search procedures for job vacancies by no longer having F&S HR staff have a vote. They said the F&S HR staff member will instead serve as an advisor to the hiring manager and committee chair.

“HR was the only department at F&S committed to ensuring that diversity candidates were even considered. Now that opportunity has been taken away,” Boatner said according to a set of Smith’s emails regarding the investigation that were obtained by The Daily Illini through the Freedom of Information Act.

Ausley said that the workplace culture was a contributing cause to Boatner’s stroke.

“I would say on a stand… a witness stand, that they are the cause of this. Because they have systematically taken roles and responsibilities away from him, because he stands up for what’s right,” she said.

A noose was placed on Facilities and Services grounds keeper and black employee Adrian Flower’s table in May 2016. The employee responsible was fired after the noose incident. Photo courtesy of Jesse Centrella.

“Not a big deal.”

Atiba Flemons was coaching his son’s basketball team when he got the call to be a F&S brick mason. He missed the call, but his soon-to-be supervisor Bruce Rodgers left a message with his wife. After Flemons finished practice, he called Rodgers back.

They exchanged “Hello’s” and “How are you doing’s?” And then Rodgers asked Flemons what the message he left for him was.

Flemons said, “Oh, my wife said for me to call you back.”

And then, Rodgers said, “How can you work for me, if you can’t follow the instructions I gave you. I will call you back. You got to follow my instructions.”

Flemons said that, already, the tone between him and his boss was set.

When reaching out to Rodgers and F&S Assistant Superintendent Mark Barcus for comment, F&S Manager of External Communications Steven Breitwieser said that as a matter of University policy, they do not comment on personnel matters.

Flemons said he is one of two minorities that work in his shop; the rest are caucasian. Currently, 17 percent of the total F&S workforce are minorities, and 64 percent of those are black, according to Breitwieser.

Flemons said that Rodgers has made racial comments before, and there was one time where Rodgers made a comment about a relative’s biracial baby saying “we should stick to our own because that’s hard on the kid.”

He recalled one time specifically, where he was working the same site at Altgeld Hall as Rodgers. He got a call about a work request and wanted to send Flemons over to help out.

Flemons said Rodgers said, “Don’t worry about it, I got this big black guy in the van that will come up to go that way.”

“Why would you say the ‘big black guy’? You could’ve just said my name. And then he started laughing,” Flemons said. “He’s making people think it’s okay to call me the big black guy.”

In 2014, Flemons filed a workplace harassment and discrimination case with the University’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Access, ODEA. He was told by the now-retired Building Maintenance Superintendent Dean Henson that they found no reason for further disciplinary action.

In the Apr. 2016 incident of a noose being placed on the table of Adrian Flowers, a black F&S grounds worker, Flemons recalled other F&S employees saying “it was just a small noose” and that “it wasn’t a big deal.”

“I’m like, ‘a noose is a noose, it’s a murder weapon. That was used to lynch black people,’” Flemons said. “It’s still offensive.”

Flowers said the noose incident was uncalled for, and while the University did take steps to immediately fire the employee that left it there, his supervisors failed to take correct action and report it to HR in a timely matter.

“I’m from Mississippi. As you can see lately, nothing has changed in Mississippi. That incident was a bottom for me, because I thought I was getting away from that,” Flowers said. “F&S didn’t handle that, they called firing that guy handling it. As far as their policies and procedures, they did not follow that at all.”

Flowers said he’s had mixed emotions about the F&S workplace culture since the incident. He said that some things are getting better, and that people are being more cautious about what they do or say now.

“The noose incident or any other racial tendencies around here, they’re stupid. It’s not, am I white or am I black, we’re human beings,” he said. “I’m hoping it don’t ever happen again to nobody. That’s basically it, I just find it so disrespectful and stupid.”

Cockroaches that former-F&S carpenter Joe Williams said he found in his reassigned workspace. Photo courtesy of Joe Williams.

“I had to kill a snake.”

From April 6, 2015 to Sept. 14, 2015, F&S carpenter Joe Williams had one source of ventilation in the basement of the Material Science and Engineering building. A small window with a fan in front, right next to a pipe with hanging asbestos, would pump air out.

It was there in Room 10A Williams said he faced daily conditions of cockroaches, black mold, asbestos, rodents, high humidity, high temperatures and flooding from leaky pipes. He said he had to once kill a snake that crawled out into the work space.

A snake right outside Room 10A n the basement of the Material Science and Engineering Building. Photo courtesy of Joe Williams.

“It was awful,” he said. “The conditions of this place … everything was nasty as hell, but obviously, it was meant for someone there to be (working). They put a computer down there, a desk, a big fan. It was extremely hot.”

An F&S employee of 29 years, Williams said this room was meant to be temporarily reassigned to him for lunches and breaks, but since all his relevant tools were there, he spent at least two hours in the room each day.

He said the reassignment was another act of retaliation by supervisors against Williams due to past ODEA and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints filed.

Williams’ original home base and his reassigned one in Room 10A in the basement of the Material Science and Engineering Building. Photo courtesy of Joe Williams.

From July 2014 to April 2015, Williams was out on disability leave due to lingering hip problems. Before his leave, Williams was assigned to a modified van with step boards. After returning to the job in 2015, his van and his tools inside were reassigned and given to other F&S workers.

“I lost everything,” he said. “I’m talking twenty-plus years of my tools, gone.”

University alumnus Daniel Collier was a doctoral student when he interviewed Williams for a personal blog article in March 2016. He said while it was not strictly illegal for his tools to be reassigned, there were still issues.

“Being a former blue-collar worker, the fact that they put his tools up for grabs, some of those which may have been handed down to him, it shows a sign of disrespect that his superiors had for him,” Collier said.

With no van, Williams was given a garbage can to push tools around from worksite to worksite. He said later, he saw his van in the parking lot of the main shop, unused.

F&S Carpenter Foreman Robert Weeks and now-retired F&S Director of Operations Carl Wegel said in an ODEA disposition Williams’s new worksite did not require a service van, and budget cuts have reduced vehicle use.

They said in the disposition while “the conditions of the satellite shop are not ideal,” it was convenient and practical for storing carpenter supplies.

Williams filed a work request with the University Safety and Compliance Division in July 2015 to test the air and put wrapping on the asbestos pipes. A week later, Safety and Compliance Officer Jim Marriot conducted an air quality test outside of the room and found there were higher temperatures and humidity levels, but it was not unsafe.

“The space is not conditioned and is meant to be a temporary work space, not permanently occupied,” Marriot reported in the July 2015 Indoor Air Quality Assessment.

In response to emails about the room, then-F&S Safety Director Maureen Banks said Williams could take breaks at the Illini Union across the street. Williams said due to hip problems and the microwave and fridge placed in Room 10A, he did not do this.

“There’s no reason I had to be down there, the work I was doing, I could have just (used my van) to go the main carpenter shop to do things. That’s what I was doing for 20 plus years before,” he said.

In August 2015, laborers came to repair and patch the asbestos pipes and clean up the debris.

“I was sick the whole time I was down there, and I expressed that over and over again to all University Management, their gross neglect for my health and safety went ignored by all parties,” Williams said in an email.

A week after filing a complaint of unfavorable job assignment, discrimination and retaliation with the EEOC, Williams relocated to another building in September 2015.

In Oct. 23, 2015, Associate University Counsel Craig J. Hoefer emailed Williams a settlement offer, with $18,500 in payments for Williams to resign from the University by Jan. 15, 2016. The settlement was in response to the EEOC complaint and the pending charge of discrimination.

Hoefer acknowledged that the settlement was a lesser amount than Williams initially requested.

“The University maintains that this is a fair offer based upon its review of your claims under the applicable employment laws,” Hoefer said in an email to Williams.

Campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said that Williams’s EEOC charge was found to be without merit, and that the University was adhering to state and federal disability discrimination laws by finding an accommodation for Williams.

“Such an accommodation may include reassignment or reinstatement to another position. On occasion an employee may disagree with the accommodations that are offered or provided and elect instead to resign or retire from the university,” Kaler said.

Williams did not sign the settlement, and used his status as an Army veteran to utilize six months of military time to reach thirty years of work and collect his retirement benefits. He officially left F&S in Dec. 2015.

“I found (the settlement) to be unacceptable and an insult to say the least, for 29 1/2 years of service, a loyal employee,” he said in an email.

The front page of the final report of the University’s investigation into discrimination and harassment in the Facilities and Services department. Photo courtesy of The University of Illinois Facilities & Services website.

The University’s Internal Investigation

The University’s investigation, starting January 2016, and the final report, released on Feb. 23, 2017, found two instances of illegal discrimination. A total of 504 employees across F&S were interviewed during the investigation, about half of the total work force.

The details on those two instances of illegal discrimination are considered a confidential matter, according to Special Assistant to the Executive Director for Personnel Resources, Diversity and Talent Development Eric Smith.

The report established eight recommendations centered around employee orientation, training and hiring and promotion policies. Kaler said the “Black vs. White” document was partly the genesis for the investigation.

Boatner helped author the “Black vs. White” document in 2015, which was sent to University administrators and listed examples of alleged discriminatory acts, favoritism towards Caucasian employees and situations of income inequity.

The document represented the situations of the “UI-7,” a group of seven individuals in F&S who aimed to use their own individual situations to “shed light on a larger issue of discrimination.” Williams was part of this group.

The investigation and interviews were conducted primarily by Smith, with additional help from former-Chancellor Barbara Wilson and University human resources workers and legal counsel, according to a set of Smith’s emails regarding the investigation that were obtained by The Daily Illini through the Freedom of Information Act.

The University’s final report stated all F&S employees were contacted with requests for in-person interviews. However, Flemons said he had to reach out himself.

“I had to request to get interviewed,” Flemons said. “That whole thing, it was a big ol’ sham.”

Flemons said after being granted the interview, the body language of Smith was spotty. He said Smith acted passive, leaning back in his chair.

“To me, if you were serious, I’m not saying I’m an expert on body language, but I know when you don’t give a s*** about interviewing or doing something,” Flemons said.

Boatner, Ausley, Flowers and McCurry agreed the investigation was disingenuous. McCurry said the final report was inaccurate, and nothing has changed since. Boatner said Smith, who conducted the one-hour interviews, had an agenda.

“I realize he had a job to do. His job was to just make the University look good. Regardless of what he was told by the employees, he wasn’t going to go in there and say anything any different. And he didn’t,” Boatner said.

As of publication, Smith did not respond to comment about the investigation.

In an email to University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen and Wilson on Apr. 3, 2016, Andrew Scheinman, Boatner’s legal consultant, said he’s been told there may be more than 20 F&S employees who are experiencing discrimination. He said a good amount of those have said “flat-out that they are too afraid of retaliation to participate in UIUC’s exploratory ‘survey.’”

Senior Associate Director at the University’s Equal Employment Opportunity office Kaamilyah Abdullah-Span said employees have a right to file a complaint or participate in an investigation, and being treated differently after counts as retaliation.

“Whenever a complaint is filed, we make it very clear that if you believe you are being retaliated against because of your participation in this investigation, you need to report that immediately,” she said.

The final report identified inconsistent interpretation and application of policies, which it stated to result “in a perception of discrimination by some employees regardless of their status.” It said minority employees expressed this perception of discrimination and harassment more than others.

“Employees have overwhelmingly stated accountability is the primary source of workplace issues within the department,” the report said.

One of the recommendations was to find an F&S director of human resources, diversity and strategy to focus on F&S diversity and inclusion activities. Breitwieser said while the search goes on, Smith has oversight of diversity and inclusion activities.

According to the F&S website, the job opening ran from May 10 to June 9, 2017. It was put back up Nov. 1, 2018. Boatner said he and Smith are both front runners for the position.

Kaler said F&S has been able to implement some of the other recommendations from the report.

“I think it’s going well, but obviously, it’s a slow process to change culture. But they certainly are working on it,” Kaler said.

Joshua Friedman and Jesse Centrella represent Friedman and Houlding, a law firm representing 11 black University employees. Centrella said while he has yet to see a truly objective investigation, even by a third-party, the University’s F&S investigation was problematic.

“They can’t just go to the alleged wrongdoer and say, ‘Jim, did it happen?’ And Jim says ‘No,’ and they say ‘Investigation complete,’” Centrella said.

Flowers agreed with this sentiment, and said he hopes the situation at F&S will improve.

“My thing is, you do all these investigations, surveys and when people do say something is wrong, and you don’t act on it,” he said. “What’s the use of doing an investigation?”

Currently, the Champaign County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is conducting their own investigation into the work environment at F&S.

At time of publication, they did not respond to comment.

Melvin Boatner is the F&S Associate Director of Employee Relations, Human Resources and Payroll. He said a stressful and hostile workplace culture led to him having a stroke in November 2017. Photo courtesy of Constance Sarantos.

After the Investigation, After the Stroke

A couple months after the final report was released, F&S Executive Director Al Stratman stepped down to move into a position within the University Administration. Helen Coleman served as interim director as the University searched for a new executive director.

On Jan. 16, 2018, Smith accepted his current position as a special assistant to the executive director for personnel resources, diversity and talent development. This made Smith Boatner’s and other HR/Payroll workers’ boss.

“The stressful/hostile environment is the main cause of my stroke,” Boatner said in an email to Coleman. “F&S is now asking me to report to someone who is in part responsible for the permanent changes that have occurred in my life because he chose not to contact 911, instead he just said that I was ok.”

Following the stroke, Boatner sent an email first to Coleman about the situation, and after getting responses from her and Smith, he proceeded to email President Killeen.

“I followed what they asked me to do. And he still didn’t respond,” he said.

He said reception about contacting the administration has especially been hostile. Boatner said Coleman told him, “If you continue to make noise, it’s not going to end well for you.”

In a letter, Banks emailed to Boatner on Aug. 10, 2017 (about five months after the University’s investigation wrapped up), she critiqued Boatner for “notifying leadership outside of F&S” about workplace issues, and his actions “undermine the Interim F&S Executive Director and demonstrate a disregard for supervision.”

The letter also details Boatner would be monitored for a 60-day period, and at the end of this period, Banks would determine if his work still warranted “continued employment.”

Another letter from Coleman emailed to Boatner on Sept. 8, 2017 reiterates the same message. She said contacting the administration is unnecessary because they’re already fully aware of his claims.

“We expect you to fulfill your duties and responsibilities … just like we do all other employees. Any deviation from these directives may lead to employment action,” Coleman said

Both Banks and Coleman said in their letters to Boatner there is an open invitation to discuss any concerns further. Boatner said he’s had meetings with Banks that last as long as three hours, but they’re not productive.

Boatner, Ausley, Flemons and Williams agreed accountability is the biggest issue at F&S.

“If you got the same people in the front office with the same mindset that you had before, the policies aren’t going to change,” Flemons said. “Change is hard. If you really want it, you go above and beyond. You look outside the University setting.”

A follow-up 2017 review of the F&S Work Environment was given to the F&S executive management team this November. The review details how a majority of the initial eight recommendations have been fulfilled, including updated policies, training and an emphasis on diversity and inclusion in job descriptions and employee evaluations.

“We continue to explore ways to improve the consistency of policies, procedures and management practices, as well as the quality of our training within F&S, moving forward,” Breitwieser said. “Diversity is a vital part of our strategic goals.”

On July 23, 2018 Mohamed Attalla began his job as F&S executive director, with Coleman retiring on July 30. Attalla served as the assistant vice president and chief facilities officer for McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Kaler said in an email that Attalla is on board with implementing the recommendations from the latest 2017 review.

“His priority is building a more diverse, inclusive and welcoming organization, and he and his leadership team continue to take actions toward that goal,” Kaler said.

Breitwieser said F&S will continue to prioritize recruiting and retaining staff from “underrepresented groups in both civil service and academic professional positions.”

Boatner said F&S efforts so far toward diversity have been “all rhetoric,” and they recently passed on hiring a diverse candidate. He said he will continue to fight for employees facing discrimination in F&S.

“See they think that it’s about (me). It’s not about (me). It’s about making F&S the best place to work, for every individual that comes after me. That’s what this is about,” Boatner said. “There are a lot of issues at F&S as a whole. Not everybody at F&S is bad. There are some good people. But there are those that need to go.”

Thursday’s print publication said Craig Hoefer did not respond for comment, but he sent his comment through Robin Kaler after the publication was sent to printers. This online version reflects his comment.

The print version refers to the group “UI-7” as “U of I 7.” The Daily Illini regrets this error.

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