A high-ranking and controversial Nashville Metro Public Health Department (MPHD) official apparently sent a memo to MPHD board members to complain about the department’s alleged instances of bullying, sexism, racism, and homophobia.
The Tennessee Star obtained a copy of that memo on Monday. Stephanie Kang, who directs the MPHD’s Bureau of Racial and Health Equity, apparently distributed the memo last week.
MPHD spokesman Brian Todd, however, could not confirm the memo’s authenticity. He said via email that Kang sent no such memo to him.
“[MPHD Director Gill] Wright is out of the office on a well-deserved vacation,” Todd told The Tennessee Star on Monday.
“I’m copying the Board Chair, Tene Franklin, in my response.”
Franklin did not reply.
Kang, in her memo, requested that MPHD officials respond to “racist, sexist, anti-queer, and aggressive/intimidating comments and behaviors” within the department. She said MPHD “employees’ requests for assistance regarding employee matters were often denigrated, invalidated, and/or were used against the employee.”
Kang, among other things, alleged the following had occurred:
• In one instance, a human resources [HR] investigator would not use someone’s preferred “they/their” pronouns because it was confusing. The HR investigator instead addressed the person as “she/her.”
• A manager asked a female employee if she was on her period.
• During a department-wide supervisor’s meeting, an HR employee described the use of an HR program for the “good old-fashioned husband and wife.” An employee complained and said “This made me feel incredibly uncomfortable and alienated as a member of the Health Department.”
Kang said HR investigators often fail to interview employees who witnessed alleged bad behaviors.
“In December 2021, after an employee filed a complaint regarding aggressive and intimidating behavior by a colleague, the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) supervisor told the employee ‘You will get used to it. You’re just overwhelmed because you haven’t been treated like that before,’” Kang quoted a staff member as allegedly saying.
Kang called for an internal investigation of the MPHD and a public report of all findings and recommendations.
In December, HR staff recommended that the department reprimand Todd for offending Kang. This, even though Kang provoked Todd by making an issue out of his race and gender,
Todd is a white male.
MPHD staff late last year apologized for Kang emailing department employees and calling the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict “an injustice.”
Todd, according to a November 30 email to MPHD Director Gill Wright, said Kang came to his office to discuss that email — which she sent without routing through Todd’s office, as protocol required.
Todd said he told Kang that it’s the MPHD’s job to focus on public issues and that her “email did nothing to support addressing those challenges.”
“I asked her how many people reached out to her with concerns prior to her drafting the email. Since I don’t know the members of her team, I asked if it was anyone on her team or if there were others. She said others besides those on her team,” Todd wrote in his email to Wright.
“I asked her if she could have one or more of them come and talk to me so that I could better understand. She said they would understandably not want to bring their concerns to a white man in power. I immediately ended the conversation, let her know that was a racial and sexist comment and it was unacceptable. I came to your office, very upset, and feeling threatened to let you know I was done with the conversation and left.”
Kang, in a written statement to HR, said Todd then stood up, screamed at her, and flung a leather folder onto his desk.
“When the folder hit the table, it made a very loud noise that made my body jump, but I couldn’t voluntarily move. My eyes were very wide and my hands gripped the chair very hard as my heart beat very fast. I leaned back when he got closer to me and stood over me and continued to yell. He screamed loudly “That’s it, this conversation is over, get out of my office!” according to Kang’s account.
“He then stormed towards me, his face very red, hands still raised, standing very closely to me screaming, ‘You are going to accuse me of being a white man in leadership? This is over, get out!’ and continued screaming this over and over. I remained sitting in shock feeling confused, intimidated and scared as he stood over me and watched him swing open the door of his office and walk out continuing to scream.”
Todd, in his email to Wright, said Kang judged him by his race and sex. He said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects him from that type of treatment.
HR investigators said Todd “cannot demonstrate that his compensation, terms, conditions, or privilege of employment have suffered any damage because of Dr. Kang’s conduct.”
Todd has no prior corrective or disciplinary actions in his personnel folder, according to the fact-finding report.
The report also recommended Kang receive some type of professional coaching.
Read the memo:
[wonderplugin_pdf src=”https://thestarnewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/KANG_february-9th-letter.pdf” width=”650px” height=”800px” style=”border:0;”]
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star and The Georgia Star News. Follow Chris on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, and GETTR. Email tips to [email protected].
