A city investigation into claims of racism and a hostile workplace in the city of Anna Maria has concluded.
And its findings wave off the worst of the allegations levied against the municipality.
Labor attorney Matthew Stefany of Tampa-based Allen Norton & Blue law firm, wrapped up his investigation with a Sept. 6 report that found former city employees’ claims “unsubstantiated.”
Allegations
The Islander recently spoke with four former municipal employees, including Benzard Holland, Roosevelt Jones, Nick Huling and Tyffanny Rios, who said they experienced racially motivated mistreatment and a hostile workplace during their time with the city.
Many of the claims involve Mayor Dan Murphy, general manager Dean Jones and city clerk and treasurer LeAnne Addy.
Holland, a Black man and former public works employee, told The Islander that Dean Jones repeatedly called him and other employees “kids,” culminating in a July 12 incident in which he alleges Jones called him “boy.”
Holland said he had requested Dean Jones refrain from calling him “kid,” so when Jones greeted him the next day by saying, “Hey kid,” and asked him to load a dolly in the back of a vehicle, he refused to do the task.
In response, Dean Jones allegedly said, “Listen here, boy, I’m the general manager, and you do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it,” according to Holland.
Holland resigned shortly after the incident.
Roosevelt Jones, another Black man and the city’s former public works manager, told The Islander that he believed he was forced out of his job due to Dean Jones’ return to the city and nicknamed “Brownie” by Murphy.
Roosevelt Jones also resigned due to the treatment he received.
Huling, another former public works employee who resigned, backed Holland and Jones’ claims and said Addy, Dean Jones and Murphy created a hostile environment that caused high employee turnover.
Rios, a dark-skinned Latina and former code enforcement officer/administrator, told The Islander she resigned due to racially motivated mistreatment from Addy.
She said Addy made disparaging or inappropriate comments during her time with the city and treated her and other non-white employees differently than white employees.
Rios also claimed Addy deliberately set her up for failure as an employee, which she noted in a Sept. 20, 2023, letter of resignation.
Investigation results
Holland emailed a summary of his claims to city commissioners in August. In response, the city hired Stefany to conduct an investigation into the claims.
The investigation consisted of interviews with Holland, Huling and Roosevelt Jones, as well as all current municipal employees.
Stefany did not interview Rios or any other former employees, according to his report.
During his interview with the labor attorney, Dean Jones disputed directing “kid” toward Holland, saying he used it plurally to address people.
Dean Jones also denied using “kid” or “boy” during the second verbal altercation with Holland.
Stefany reported that no other city employees interviewed corroborated Holland’s claims, but two had been told by Holland about Dean Jones’ alleged use of “boy.”
Stefany found there was a preponderance of evidence supporting Holland’s allegation that Dean Jones used “kid” or “kids,” but could not substantiate whether it was directed at Holland individually or others.
He also wrote that Holland said he complained about Dean Jones’ alleged use of “boy” to Roosevelt Jones following the incident, but Roosevelt Jones “denied receiving any such complaint.”
“Accordingly, the undersigned finds Mr. Holland’s allegations of verbal abuse and discriminatory/aggressive behavior to be unsubstantiated,” Stefany wrote.
Stefany also reported the allegation that Murphy nicknamed Roosevelt Jones “Brownie” to be unfounded.
He wrote that Murphy said the nickname referred to a former Caucasian public works employee who “mistakenly ordered brown sand to fill in low areas in the city’s public spaces rather than the white sand that was already in place.”
According to Stefany, other interviewed employees “independently confirmed the mayor’s use of the nickname ‘brownie’ for this former employee and corroborated its origin.”
Finally, Stefany found Holland’s allegations of a toxic environment to be unsubstantiated even though a “preponderance of the evidence supports the existence of tension in the (public works) department.”
“It is clear that Roosevelt and those that Roosevelt hired (Mr. Holland and Mr. Huling) felt that Dean (Jones) used his authority to micromanage the department in a manner which undermined Roosevelt’s position. However, this perception was not shared by the rest of the team,” he wrote. “There is no indication that Dean’s management of the department was based on race or any other characteristic protected under federal or state law.”
Nevertheless, Stefany wrote that several city employees expressed their own work-environment related concerns over the course of his investigation.
“These concerns were not consistently targeted at any one person or persons but can generally be summarized as a pervasive lack of trust and collegiality among coworkers which is having a reported adverse impact on the day-to-day work environment,” he reported.
Stefany said concerns, as well as recommendations for how to address them, were shared with Murphy.
Reactions
Murphy said Sept. 11 that he reached out to human resources consultants to lead team-building efforts and help address work-environment related concerns unearthed in Stefany’s investigation.
“No one wants to have to operate in an environment where it is either hostile or toxic,” he said. “They want a place where they want to come to work and are happy doing what they’re doing.”
“We need to restore that,” Murphy added.
On the other hand, Holland and Roosevelt Jones spoke separately with The Islander Sept. 13 and called into question Stefany’s findings.
Holland called the Sept. 6 report “a bunch of lies.” He voiced frustration that Dean Jones “got away” with his alleged mistreatment.
“I feel low as a man and degraded as a human being because of what I went through in Anna Maria. And for him to get away with it? That’s more than a slap in the face,” he said. “I want justice.”
“We didn’t get together and make this story up,” Roosevelt Jones said. “It’s just what happened.”
He contradicted Stefany’s report by saying that Holland did complain to him about Dean Jones’ alleged use of the term “boy” immediately after it happened.
He added that he was with Holland as the general manager approached the pair to apologize.
Stefany reported, “Dean confirmed that he apologized to Mr. Holland later that day and explained his apology was based on Mr. Holland’s reaction to his request regarding the dolly.”
However, Holland and Roosevelt Jones said Dean Jones’ apology was for calling Holland “boy.”
Roosevelt Jones also expressed disbelief in Murphy’s reported claim that a different, white employee was called “Brownie” instead of him.
“I know for a fact he called me Brownie,” he said.
“They basically investigated themselves and found no wrongdoing,” Roosevelt Jones added. “They just don’t want to be in the paper anymore.”