City report: Assessor Alvin Horhn bullied, intimidated staff

Joe Guillen | Detroit Free Press

The Detroit assessor’s office could be a hard place to work under Alvin Horhn.

Horhn intimidated workers, yelled, kicked things, asked older staffers when they’d retire and constantly reminded everyone “I am in charge,” according to an internal city report that substantiated a worker's complaint that Horhn bullied him and treated him unfairly.

That worker, Adam Crawford, an appraiser supervisor, is now suing Horhn and the City of Detroit for age and weight discrimination in violation of Michigan civil rights laws.

"If (Horhn) likes you, then you're treated fairly. If he doesn't like you, then he's going to do everything in his power to make life miserable for you," Crawford said in an interview. "He targeted me based on my weight and age."

Crawford, a city worker for more than 30 years, said the office's unpleasant environment has not improved since his complaint of workplace violence for bullying was substantiated in a December 2017 internal report. The city has a zero tolerance policy for workplace violence.

The city's Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity Department detailed Horhn's intimidating behavior toward certain workers in a report sent to Detroit Chief Financial Officer John Hill, who oversees Horhn's department.

“From the interviews conducted and witness statements received, this writer finds there is enough concern expressed by employees that warrant that the administration should take a serious look into the behavior of the respondent, Alvin Horhn,” the civil rights office’s report reads. “Employees should not feel threatened, intimidated, and fearful of coming to work or exercising their right to reach out for help from other agencies on personal issues.”

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Crawford's lawsuit, filed in June, also claims Horhn and the city retaliated against him for speaking up. Crawford alleged that he was denied access to his personnel file, and that the city violated the state's Freedom of Information Act by withholding from him records related to the city's investigation of his workplace violence complaint against Horhn.

The city and Horhn have denied Crawford's claims in legal filings.

The city would not comment on any actions taken to address the troubling atmosphere in the assessor's office.

"The city will be responding to all of the issues raised in the lawsuit and the (civil rights department's) report in court. Until then we will not be commenting further," Lawrence Garcia, who is in charge of the law department as corporation counsel, said in a statement.

Horhn, through city spokesman John Roach, declined to be interviewed.

Horhn was promoted to his current role of deputy chief financial officer/assessor in 2015. He began working for the city in 1997 and now earns a salary of $146,081.

The assessor's office assigns values to properties throughout the city for tax collection, performs field inspections and keeps property data. The office has about 60 workers and falls under the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, which manages several of the city’s finance-related offices.

According to the lawsuit, Horhn consistently bullied and humiliated Crawford by asking him about his retirement plans and publicly insulting him about his weight. When it became clear Crawford would not be bullied into retirement, Horhn stripped him of his supervisory duties, removed him from his office and relocated him to a cubicle next to his subordinates, the lawsuit reads. Crawford still works in the office.

Crawford then initiated a grievance against Horhn. He was reprimanded by Horhn three days later.

Crawford, who is 51 years old and weighs more than 345 pounds, is seeking a judgement in excess of $1 million because he has suffered a loss of earnings, embarrassment and humiliation, mental and emotional distress, medical costs, loss of pension benefits and the "loss of the ordinary pleasures of everyday life," according to the suit.

But the city says Crawford's age and weight had nothing to do with his treatment at work. Crawford was disciplined on several occasions because of work performance, city lawyers wrote in a legal filing.

Crawford "cannot show that the alleged comments relative to weight and/or retirement were a motivating factor in the decisions to discipline, remove him from his office or reassign his duties to another," lawyers for the city wrote in response to Crawford's complaint.

Crawford said he has been a good worker throughout his career. Prior to his difficulties under Horhn, Crawford said his only blemish was one issue in another department regarding the promptness of his email replies.

Crawford, a diabetic, said his ongoing problems at work continue to take a toll on his physical and emotional health.

"What is it? Because I don't know what I did wrong," he said. "I didn't come to the city of Detroit for money. I came to the city of Detroit to work and to provide service."

Joe Guillen is a reporter on the Free Press Investigations Team. He has been covering city governance and development issues for the newspaper since 2013. Contact him at 313-222-6678 or jguillen@freepress.com. Free Press apprentices Lauryn Azu and Olivia King contributed to this report.