The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission notified the Warren County Manager’s Office last week that the county had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 following an investigation of the discrimination charges brought by Williams Roberts.
Roberts, a Cherokee Indian, charged that he, as a Native American, was discriminated against based on race when he was passed over for the position of animal shelter director.
The EEOC also found that Roberts was the better qualified for the position than Gail Wells, who was hired and still holds the job. A third applicant was never interviewed because Wells was hired.
Roberts had previous experience as an animal shelter director and animal control officer in New Jersey and as a volunteer humane officer in North Carolina for the past three years.
Wells had no previous experience as an animal control officer, but was active in the Citizens for Animal Protection (CAPS) of Warren County. At the time she was appointed to the job, Wells said her primary qualification was the fact she was a member of that group.
The EEOC letter states that “The evidence established that the charging party (Roberts) was better qualified for the position than the selectee. Warren County (respondent) contended that charging party scored lowest on the interviews and possessed less administrative experience than the selectee. The reasons asserted by respondent are not worthy of belief because the selectee possesses no related animal control experience.”
Roberts and representatives of Warren County will possibly meet in the next two weeks to attempt to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution. If the county does not reach agreement with Roberts, the EEOC or Roberts could decide to sue the county.
This is not the first time Roberts and the county have been at odds. In January the commissioners revoked Allcare Ambulance Service’s franchise after five years. Roberts, owner and operator of the ambulance service, was forced to cut the number of employees by three fourths.
In February Roberts was convicted and received a $1,000 fine with 18 months probation for impersonating a law enforcement officer after an encounter with a Macon resident where he wore a gun and carried a badge in carrying out an animal cruelty investigation.
There have also been problems brewing with the animal shelter. In February Warren County Manager Linda Jones met with CAP representatives to discuss animal shelter concerns.
Jones had received numerous complaints concerning the shelter, many saying it was dirty, improperly disinfected, had diseased dogs housed with healthy dogs, and wild cats housed with tame house cats, and that the animals are not being fed and watered accordingly. That led the county to end a joint operations agreement with CAP.
EEOC representative, as is their policy, would not comment further on the case.