CLAYTON — The St. Louis County Council may soon ask voters to do what they couldn’t: give county employees who report wrongdoing additional protections against potential retaliation.
A bipartisan majority — four of the seven council members who’ve been critics of County Executive Sam Page — voted for a whistleblower protection measure last year. But Page vetoed it, saying it was too broad and would have unintended consequences, such as leaving the county powerless to stop politically motivated subpoenas from the Missouri Legislature.
Supporters couldn’t get the fifth necessary council vote to override the veto.
Council Chair Rita Days, D-1st District, said the criticism from Page and his supporters is an excuse to not adopt a reform she argues would prevent discrimination and retaliation lawsuits.
“It’s not rocket science as far as I’m concerned; I think it’s a matter of simply protecting the employees,” she said.
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Her proposal, up for a final vote Tuesday, would pitch the four-page bill to voters in the form of . Ballot initiatives can’t be vetoed.
Spokesman Doug Moore said the administration is “hopeful” Days will delay the vote to negotiate with Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-5th District, who has introduced he said hews closer to the 2017 whistleblower law.
“We remain hopeful that the council can reach a compromise,” he said.
The , last updated in 1997, forbids supervisors from prohibiting employees from talking about the operations with the County Council or County Auditor or “taking any disciplinary action whatsoever” against an employee for reporting allegations of illegal activity, misuse of public funds, or a threat to public health or safety, and gives employees 10 days to file a complaint with the Civil Service Commission.
Days’ bill would expand the protections to volunteers and interns and protect them for whistleblowing to an individual County Council member, the news media, any law enforcement officer or state officials such as the auditor, the attorney general and members of the General Assembly — including under legislative subpoena.
It would bar any act “to warn of, recommend, cause or approve” dismissal or other discipline by any county “officer”; adds “conflict of interest, or unlawful discrimination,” to the list of protected allegations; and gives employees alleging retaliation 30 days to file a complaint.
The council first voted 4-3 on Oct. 26 to approve the bill. Page, in his veto letter, specifying the county can’t prevent employees from testifying in front of the Missouri Legislature under subpoena, nor discipline an employee for doing so. The Legislature is controlled by Republicans; Page is a Democrat.
Page also said the council majority was seeking to address workplace discrimination complaints , which are supposed to be handled by the Board of Police Commissioners. And he pointed to an argument by Councilman Ernie Trakas, R-6th District, who said the bill would have “unintended consequences” by forbidding the county from disciplining employees who release information such as health records of other county workers or jail inmates. Trakas is an attorney.
Days, in , said her bill made “no substantive changes,” and urged a veto override. But the council majority — Days, Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, D-4th District, Councilman Tim Fitch, R-3rd District, and Councilman Mark Harder, D-7th District — have lacked a fifth vote in two attempts to overturn it. An override would have required support from at least one of Page’s council allies: Clancy, Trakas, or Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway, D-2nd District.
Clancy introduced a bill in January that also would protect volunteers and interns who blow the whistle to any county officials, news media and the public, and give employees a year to file a complaint. But it does not protect whistleblowing to state officials and included fewer expanded definitions. It also includes a provision specifying that an employee could face discipline for revealing “information protected by law or otherwise privileged,” giving the county some discretion.
Clancy said at a March 22 hearing that she wanted to grant anonymity to whistleblowers and look at creating a route for non-merit employees to file complaints.
Employee lawsuits
Days maintains her bill would prevent discrimination lawsuits against the county, citing a $20 million verdict awarded to police Sgt. Keith Wildhaber, who alleged he was denied promotion to lieutenant because he is gay. The case was later settled for $10.25 million.
And it includes a high-profile lawsuit by the late Hazel Erby, Day’s predecessor on the council and former county diversity director. Page had fired Erby from the position, which he created for her, after which Days broke with other Democrats on the council to become one of the executive’s fiercest critics.
Erby sued the county in late 2020 alleging Page fired her for publicly complaining about minority exclusion in county contracts, in violation of Missouri’s whistleblower statute. Erby’s former deputy has also filed suit.
Police lieutenants Ray Rice and James Morgan, who are Black, filed suits against the county in November 2020, alleging they were victims of discrimination and retaliation. And Lt. Col. Troy Doyle sued the county in February 2021 for racial discrimination alleging Page had lined him up to succeed Chief Jon Belmar, but reneged on the decision after wealthy white donors protested.
In December, a former county animal shelter manager sued the county alleging she was fired for opposing a plan to contract a third-party operator of the facility.
Rice and Morgan were active with the Ethical Society of Police, a group representing Black and nonwhite officers that has been outspoken about allegations of misconduct and racism within county and city of St. Louis police.
Former officer Shanette Hall, vice president of ESOP, has been a vocal supporter of Days’ whistleblower bill, telling the council as early as October that it was necessary to address complaints within the police department by officers who feel they can’t come forward due to possible retaliation.
Hall resigned from the department this month and sued the county Wednesday, alleging she was transferred out of her role in human resources recruiting minority officers in retaliation for speaking out and reporting racist behavior by other officers.
Doyle Wednesday that “Employees’ ability to report fraud, waste, abuse and corruption without fear of retribution is an important component to government oversight, accountability and transparency.”
“I’m in support of legislation that protects All County employees in that manner.”
‘I’m bringing this to a close’
Page, , had referred Days to the Board of Police Commissioners and the Human Relations Commission, a citizen panel that advises the county on diversity and equity policies.
But the commission hasn’t reached a consensus amid an apparent disagreement over the bills between Hall, vice chair of the panel, and Karen Aroesty, the panel’s chair. Page hired Aroesty in January as acting director of administration.
Days alleged Page’s request was an effort to delay her bill. She wrote a public letter inviting formal input from the Board of Police Commissioners, but said she didn’t hear back.
“I’ve asked for this for over a year,” Days said. “I’m bringing this to a close.”
Aroesty said in an interview that she had been “back and forth” with Days over questions about the bill, including a line forbidding the county from “refusal to consider an employment application” of a former county employee who “was otherwise qualified.”
“That seems to me to be more about failure to hire and potential discrimination,” she said.
Aroesty, co-chair of the U.S. Attorney’s Hate Crimes Task Force and a former longtime regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, said discrimination and retaliation are separate categories also protected by law. Whistleblowing, a separate category, is already protected, she said.
“These cases are very fact-specific, they are very unique to their facts each and every time, and they deserve that kind of review,” Aroesty said. But she would support an update to the county’s current ordinances with more “education” about the law and what it means, she said.