Complaint of racism filed against housing exec

By Timothy Pratt

Monday, May 9, 2005 | 10:58 a.m.

Employees at the North Las Vegas Housing Authority have filed a complaint with the state alleging that the agency's chief financial officer made racist remarks about another minority employee.

The complaint alleges that a minority employee was referred to as a "monkey."

Meanwhile, the chief financial officer, Rose Carvey, handed in her resignation Thursday -- though she said it has nothing to do with the complaint. Carvey also said she did not say what was alleged in the complaint.

The events occurred only days after the troubled $14 million agency delayed approving its annual budget because of employee outrage over possible layoffs. The agency also is struggling with a $20 million incomplete housing project that is in default.

The agency is expected to consider the budget again at its May 11 board meeting.

The discussion that led to the complaint filed with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission -- the state agency charged with handling workplace discrimination -- took place in an April 29 meeting about the agency's budget.

According to the complaint, Donna Cleveland, an employee whose job it is to determine if applicants are eligible for Housing Authority programs, asked Carvey if an employee threatened with being laid off could be moved to another position. The complaint alleges that Carvey says she was told that employee, who is black, was not competent for the position. She then asked if another employee who is being laid off could be moved into the position of accounting clerk. The employee in question is Hispanic.

"Ms. Rose Carvey then stated 'You can't train monkeys to do accounting,' " Cleveland's complaint says.

A colleague of Cleveland, Alice Quinonez, also filed a complaint about the same alleged comment.

The complaint also says that the comment was directed at the employee, indicating a "racist attitude."

But Carvey said she was trying to say at the meeting that "accounting is a specialized field" and that her words were, "Do you think that trained monkeys can do accounting?"

"They just want us to put people in any position to save jobs," she said.

The complaint says that witnesses to the event included North Las Vegas Councilman Robert Eliason and Service Employees International Union representative Chris Salm.

Neither returned calls seeking comment.

Carvey said she hadn't heard about the complaint to the state before Thursday.

"Certain employees are so hostile toward management" in the agency, she said, and "don't want to balance the budget because it means some people will lose jobs."

"There comes a point where there's nothing left but salaries to cut in the budget -- and we're at that point."

The complaint, as well as other complaints she said were filed internally at the agency, may be a strategy tied to the looming layoffs, she said.

"They're filing anything they can file on anyone in management so if they're laid off they can say it's retaliation."

Carvey said the atmosphere at the agency has made it so hard for her to complete her mission -- balancing the budget -- that she handed in her resignation.

She said it was meant to be effective Aug. 25 -- after the budget and other reports were filed to the federal Housing and Urban Development Department -- but hearing of the complaints with the state may make her decide to leave the agency earlier.

Cleveland said the alleged comment was an indication of how management sees minorities, who she said are most of the agency's clients.

"If you have people in high positions who have this mentality, what kind of services are you going to give the people who come to the office? Are you going to think that you're better than them?" she said.

Susan Gray, who recently became administrator for the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, said her agency's response to such complaints is to "try to gauge whether there's a pattern."

"We want to know, 'This happened today -- (but) what's happened every other day?' " she said.

Carvey said, "I don't think there's any racism going on in this agency whatsoever."

If the commission determines that the complaint has the possibility of merit, or probable cause, then the agency holds a meeting to reach reconciliation between the parties.

If that fails, the agency can hold a public hearing on the complaint. Or the agency can forward its ruling to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal sister agency, which can then issue what's called a "right-to-sue" letter.

The complainant can then take the issue to court and seek punitive damages.

Cleveland said it is "difficult to go to work" since the alleged incident.

Carvey also said she found it difficult to work at the agency.