Sean McGowan, executive director of the Virginia division of the Southern States Police Benevolent Association, outlined concerns about the responsiveness of the agency’s current human resources division in the letter. Copies were given to the board, whose members are appointed by the governor, that supervises the department and appoints its executive director.

McGowan asked that the state investigate. He said officers of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries say the agency’s human resources division loses their paperwork, fails to return it or does not respond to questions about the Family and Medical Leave Act.

“By all accounts HR seems to hide from the employees and is not service oriented,” he wrote. “They are known for never responding when asked the difficult questions regarding recruitment and compensation issues.”

He also wrote that agency pay is not equitable because human resources and senior staff poorly executed a pay-alignment study, creating new problems which led to senior supervisors being overpaid.

Discrimination lawsuit

The police association’s complaint follows the allegations of racial discrimination by a previous director of human resources and other employees at the agency.