T is for trouble

Discrimination still thrives at the MBTA

Again and again, the MBTA has declared that it is serious about fighting discrimination in its ranks. Yet the problem -- employees harassed or overlooked because of their race or gender, whistle blowers suffering retaliation -- still festers. And the T, according to a detailed report released last week by Attorney General Scott Harshbarger's office, continues to resist efforts to bring it into the modern era.

Dysfunction at the T is deeply rooted. A 16-month investigation had already uncovered a host of problems. Women and minorities were regularly harassed. They were systematically kept out of jobs by an old boys' network that kept openings secret. Complaints, if there were any, were frequently ignored; investigations were shoddy and halfhearted at best. And then, often enough, the "troublemaker" was made to feel very, very unwelcome. All this at an agency that is bankrolled by the public.

Apparently contrite, the T admitted it needed to change its ways. In February 1997, it entered into a binding reform plan, to be overseen by the AG's office. Since that time, there have been some welcome signs. The agency has made progress in hiring and promoting women and minorities. And there is evidence that employees are coming to have more faith in the T's investigation process: the number of internal complaints increased to 147 in fiscal year 1997, from just 47 the year before.

Unfortunately, the signs of progress at the T are overshadowed by all the evidence of arrogant foot-dragging.

Roberta Edwards. In November, the T suspended (and later fired) Roberta Edwards, then its top-ranking woman, just three days after she filed a discrimination complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). (See "Disregarding Women," News, January 23, 1998.) The T has so far failed to give a reasonable explanation for this high-profile dismissal.

Job postings. T officials told the AG's office that they were posting all job openings, as they were required to do under the agreement. In fact, according to last week's report, they filled 19 jobs in the troubled Engineering and Maintenance department without public posts. This is how, for many years, the T has kept women and minorities out of jobs; and, as the report notes, that appears to be what happened here.

Discouraging complaints. Last spring, just after the agreement was drawn up, investigators for the T's Office of Diversity were apparently discouraging employees from filing complaints.

Looking the other way. When racist documents -- such as fliers from the National Association for the Advancement of White People -- began to appear in the workplace, the T investigated only when asked to by the attorney general.

Intolerance policies. Since the agreement was put in place more than a year ago, the T has been exceptionally slow to make fighting discrimination a regular part of its personnel policy. The examples are numerous. The T was supposed to designate 54 supervisors, spread around the organization, to receive complaints; they still haven't. It took the agency until March 1998 to distribute "zero tolerance" policies. Officials have refused, despite repeated requests, to run special training programs in areas with a continuing pattern of problems. And, eight months after the AG's office first suggested it, the T has still not taken the simple step of making civil rights performance a category in managers' reviews.

Clearly, if the T is to get its act together, it will need even more aggressive prodding. Harshbarger could certainly do more: why doesn't his report criticize -- or even discuss -- the pay disparities between men and women doing similar jobs? Why, after six months, has he still not released the report he promised on the Roberta Edwards case?

Yet Harshbarger has done far better than his counterparts in other branches of government. Governor Cellucci has uttered a few stand-by-his-mans. The state legislature has been virtually silent. This is not the right message.

Discrimination is a moral wrong. Discrimination is illegal. Discrimination is also a stupid way to run a business -- bad for morale and productivity. This is the message. If the top management cannot be convinced to do the right thing, then there is only one solution left: replace them all.

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