Ted Wheeler's ceremonial inauguration

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler takes the oath during his ceremonial inauguration at Jason Lee Elementary in Northeast Portland on Jan. 4, 2017. Wheeler's chief of staff, Maurice Henderson, has been accused by a pregnant city employee of discouraging her to take maternity leave if she wanted a job in the Wheeler administration. Beth Nakamura/Staff

(Beth Nakamura)

A pregnant city employee courted for a job inside Ted Wheeler's administration claims she was pressured to take less time off to care for her newborn if she wanted to work for Portland's mayor, interviews and records obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive show.

The employee, Erika Nebel, informally requested 12 weeks of maternity leave - the same amount government employers are required to provide under state and federal law - while discussing potential policy or administrative positions with Wheeler's top aide as he assembled the mayor's team late last year. Her baby is due this spring.

But Nebel claims Wheeler's chief of staff, Maurice Henderson, told her 12 weeks of leave would impose too big a burden on Wheeler's remaining staff and budget, emails and interviews show. Nebel contends Henderson then steered her toward a different job, with the Portland Bureau of Transportation, where he said that amount of leave would be less burdensome to her employer.

Henderson declined to comment Wednesday but flatly denied the allegations through a mayoral spokesman. Emails that Henderson sent to Nebel show he told her that she misunderstood their conversations and he encouraged her to take 12 weeks of leave. Henderson did not ultimately turn Nebel down for the job; instead, she declined to continue pursuing it and took the transportation post.

Nebel declined to comment for this story.

But Nebel did outline her concerns in a lengthy Dec. 14 email to Henderson obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive through a public records request. Nebel wrote that Henderson's comments made her feel unsupported, undervalued and scared.

"No prospective employee should feel pressure to take less family leave than what is federally allowed," Nebel, 28, told Henderson in the email. "It is my hope that the Wheeler administration learns from this misstep and is able to demonstrate support for expectant and working mothers."

Nebel reported her allegations to Portland's human resources bureau Dec. 14, copying director Anna Kanwit on the email to Henderson. City rules require a prompt investigation of discrimination or retaliation complaints.

But the city did not launch an investigation. Instead, records reveal that Kanwit helped guide Henderson's response to Nebel - providing edits to an email he planned to send her - while simultaneously asking Henderson not to indicate he was sharing that message with Kanwit.

Kanwit on Wednesday said she didn't consider Nebel's email a complaint and therefore didn't investigate. City rules are purposely ambiguous about what constitutes a complaint, Kanwit said.

"Getting copied on an email is not what I'd consider a complaint," Kanwit said. "I get copied on lots of emails."

Kanwit also said there would have been nothing to investigate because Henderson documented his support in writing for Nebel to take 12 weeks of maternity leave. Kanwit said she advised Henderson to document his support.

"Absolutely," she said. "The best way to make sure the person has the correct impression is to put it in writing. Then it's not left to interpretation."

The availability of family leave is one of the country's highest-profile employee rights. In Oregon, which offers more protections than the national law, every employer with at least 25 employees is required to post prominently in the workplace information about employees' rights and the state and federal family leave laws.

Employment attorneys contacted by The Oregonian/OregonLive say the allegations are troubling but, even if true, may not represent a clear-cut violation of state or federal law. That's because Henderson documented his support for Nebel's leave and because Nebel ultimately withdrew her candidacy for Wheeler's team.

But the charges nonetheless cast a shadow over Portland's new mayor. Just weeks into his administration, Wheeler has come under fire for the city's shaky response to January's snowstorm and at least four hypothermia deaths among vulnerable homeless residents.

Now, Wheeler's hand-picked deputy faces accusations of discrimination, just as former Mayor Charlie Hales' chief of staff did for alleged comments made to an aide who is HIV positive. The city settled that claim for $25,000.

Maurice Henderson, chief of staff for Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler

Wheeler declined to comment Wednesday, but his spokesman strongly denied allegations that his office is unwilling to accommodate working families.

"Maurice flatly denies that he ever pressured Ms. Nebel to take anything less than the full amount of time off allowed under law," Wheeler spokesman Michael Cox wrote in an email. "As the email record shows, Maurice was dismayed by the apparent misunderstanding, and clarified his commitment to both the law and to continuing discussions over a potential position in the Mayor's office. We are committed to a family-friendly office for mothers, fathers, and those expecting children."

Wheeler in August named Henderson, a relative newcomer to city politics, as his chief of staff. One of Henderson's first duties: hold preliminary conversations with would-be mayoral employees and compile a list of finalists for Wheeler.

Henderson first approached Nebel about a potential job on Election Day, according to Nebel's Dec. 14 email.

Nebel had spent the past four years working for Portland Commissioner Steve Novick, beginning as a front-desk receptionist before rising to a policy adviser on transportation issues. Henderson, in his role as assistant transportation director since 2015, reported to Novick and knew Nebel.

Novick lost his re-election bid in a surprising upset Nov. 8. That night, Henderson arrived at the Spirit of 77 bar in Northeast Portland, where Novick's supporters had gathered, to speak with Nebel and at least one other Novick aide about potential jobs working for Wheeler, according to Nebel's email and interviews.

Over the next month, Nebel and Henderson had on-and-off conversations about her possible roles working on city policy or as a bureau liaison for Wheeler, emails show. At the same time, Nebel considered a job offer from the transportation bureau.

According to Nebel's email, she didn't tell Henderson about her desire to take 12 weeks of parental leave until a Dec. 2 phone call.

Five days later, they discussed the topic again. Nebel and Henderson subsequently offered wildly different recollections of that Dec. 7 telephone conversation.

According to Nebel's email, the entire eight-minute talk focused on "the challenges posed by" an aide taking parental leave within the first year of Wheeler's administration.

"You talked about how you were unable to accommodate three months (12 weeks) due primarily to budget and needing all hands on deck," she wrote in her email.

Fearing the job was slipping away, Nebel offered to take only eight weeks of leave, or alternatively six weeks off plus two weeks at a reduced capacity, she wrote in her email. But each time, she wrote in the email, Henderson voiced concerns and said he'd need to talk with the human resources department.

Nebel accused Henderson of telling her to accept the transportation job if she wanted to take 12 weeks of leave because the bureau "was financially able and willing," according to her email.

Three former city employees who saw Nebel on Dec. 7, including immediately after the phone call, vouched for Nebel's recollection of events in separate interviews with The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Each remembered Nebel explaining that Henderson allegedly said he was reluctant to provide 12 weeks of maternity leave and encouraged Nebel to accept a job with the transportation bureau.

"She wasn't crying immediately," said one former city employee who saw her after the call. "She looked like she was in shock."

Later that day, Nebel texted a different former city employee about Henderson.

"I had a really weird conversation with Maurice today and I don't know how to react," Nebel wrote, according to a copy of the text provided to The Oregonian/OregonLive by the former city employee.

They spoke face-to-face later that day, the former city employee said. "She said she was really worried," the person said. "She felt like she was in an impossible situation."

A third former city employee, who also saw Nebel that day, recalled Nebel's angst. The employee remembers Nebel explaining that she offered to take fewer weeks off, hoping to appease Henderson and secure a job working for Wheeler.

"She was put in a position where she had to negotiate against herself," the former employee said.

Henderson had a different view of the conversation.

One day after their phone call, on Dec. 8, Henderson emailed to say he spoke with human resources and reiterated his interest in hiring Nebel. He wrote that he also wanted to "ensure that we were clear on a few things."

"As we discussed, our office and I am of course committed to ensure that people are able to take advantage of" family leave "and any type of compensation that is required by law and within our appropriate powers to grant," Henderson wrote to Nebel.

Before he sent her that message, Henderson shared it with Kanwit, the human resources director, asking her for guidance, edits or suggestions. "I think this message is fine," Kanwit responded.

Henderson emailed Nebel again Dec. 9 to say he was "still interested in working with you to make our position work." But Henderson said he would "completely understand" if she accepted a job in the transportation bureau.

Nebel waited until Dec. 14 to respond. In that email, Nebel told Henderson she was withdrawing her candidacy as a direct result of their phone call, "in which I was pressured to take less than the federally protected 12 weeks of family leave."

"As chief-of-staff for the incoming mayor, you spoke on behalf of the Mayor-Elect when you reached out to begin negotiating terms of joining the Wheeler administration," Nebel wrote in her email. "You were also speaking on behalf of the Mayor-Elect when you pressured me to pursue another job if I wanted to take 12 weeks of family leave (which you are required to allow under federal law)."

The city provided that email and others Wednesday, three weeks after The Oregonian/OregonLive filed a public records request seeking copies of all emails regarding job opportunities for Nebel in Wheeler's office or with the transportation bureau. Officials charged $100 to search for and provide the records.

"I want the very best for everyone who works for the city and it's my goal here that other women, and all parents for that matter, don't go through what I did in our conversation last Wednesday," wrote Nebel, who now works for the transportation bureau's parking division as an assistant program specialist earning $65,811 annually.

No one responded to Nebel for more than a week. But emails show that Henderson and Kanwit were talking.

In direct response to Nebel's email, Kanwit emailed Henderson on Dec. 14 with a message: "We should probably talk." Henderson wrote back to say he'd call the next day.

A week later, Henderson drafted a response to Nebel's complaints and shared it via email with Kanwit on Dec. 21, thanking Kanwit for her "guidance and support."

Kanwit responded the next day with changes "to make it a little shorter and more direct." Kanwit also asked Henderson not to copy her on the email when he responded to Nebel. Henderson followed Kanwit's guidance, instead forwarding to Kanwit his response to Nebel - with a message: "FYI...thanks again!"

In his Dec. 22 emailed response, Henderson wrote that he was "very dismayed by how our conversations have been perceived by you." Henderson wrote that he appreciated Nebel's willingness to reduce her leave but he didn't ask her to make the sacrifice. And he wrote he was only trying to be encouraging about options within the transportation bureau.

"To be clear, it was never my intent to suggest you take less than 12 weeks of leave," he wrote.

Kanwit on Wednesday said she remained impartial throughout the process. Kanwit said she couldn't remember if she ever responded to Nebel, but added that Nebel could have contacted her if she was unsatisfied.

"I did have Erika's interests at heart," Kanwit said, adding that she directed Henderson to make it clear that Nebel was entitled to 12 weeks of leave.

Both the Oregon Family Leave Act and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act require government agencies to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a new parent who requests it. Under a city policy from 2016, employees now receive full pay for up to six weeks of a 12-week leave.

Nebel has not filed a discrimination complaint with the state's Bureau of Labor and Industries nor a notice to sue the city of Portland, officials said.

Karen O'Connor, a partner at the law firm Stoel Rives, said it's not uncommon for some supervisors to misinterpret regulations for family leave.

"The fact of someone making an incorrect statement doesn't mean that the discrimination happened, if you can go back and fix it right away," said O'Connor, who represents defendants in employment cases.

But Courtney Angeli, a partner at the law firm Buchanan Angeli Altschul & Sullivan, said employers are responsible for knowing and following the law.

Angeli, who represents plaintiffs, said it would be "an unlawful practice" to retaliate by dropping someone from consideration for a job because that person asserted her right to take family leave.

"Ignorance of what the law requires, which might have been the case here, is not an excuse for retaliation," she said.

-- Brad Schmidt

bschmidt@oregonian.com

503-294-7628

@_brad_schmidt

Reporter Jessica Floum contributed to this story.