PHOENIX — A complaint by an employee of sexual and racial harassment led to the decision by a top aide to Gov. Jan Brewer to fire the head of state agency that oversees virtually all state workers.
Documents obtained by Capitol Media Services show the governor's office was given copies of a filing by the worker with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Oct. 16. Brian McNeil, director of the state Department of Administration, was dismissed the next day.
The worker, whose identity was not disclosed, said in her filing with the EEOC that McNeil, who was not her immediate supervisor, made comments to her last year with "sexual connotations."
"He also mentioned that although I was an 'attractive women' (cq) and a good speaker, he wanted more from my job performance,'' the complaint reads. And the woman also said that McNeil repeatedly referred to her as being in a "protected class," that others would not criticize her work performance "based on racial issues," and she needed to "woman up.''
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While the EEOC filing was in February, gubernatorial spokesman Andrew Wilder said his boss did not become aware of the issue until Oct. 16. It was that day the woman gave a copy of the filing to Kathy Peckardt, the state's human resources director, with a sticky note to Peckardt saying "this is what was turned into the federal EEOC office and the investigator interviewed me on 2/14/14."
Calls to McNeil, fired on Oct. 17, were not immediately returned.
