INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR'S REPORT PAINTS UNATTRACTIVE PICTURE OF ATKINSON'S REIGN AT BISD HUMAN RESOURCES

(Ed's Note: We had been told in the past about a report from an independent investigator on Dr. Sylvia Atkinson's tenure as Human Resources director with the Brownsville Independent School District. Try as we might we could not find it before she left the BISD for a position at Rio Hondo ISD. The elusive document finally turned up in our mail after months of searching. The picture that it paints of Atkinson – now a board member of the BISD – is not a pretty one. 

The firm of Aguilar and Zabarte, a leading law firm in Brownsville, found that she had potentially violated numerous standards of the BISD Code of Conduct in her treatment of several top administrators under her jurisdiction. The firm found that – after interviewing more than 120 witnesses for both sides – and numerous emails, documents and recordings, that the majority of allegations of harassment and intimidation were based on fact and were against the district's policies. Atkinson's lawyers did not allow her to be interviewed on all the allegations.)

By Juan Montoya

A 24-page investigative report which probed into allegations of intimidation and harassment of three top Brownsville Independent School District high school administrators performed by an independent law firm details numerous instances where Dr. Sylvia Atkinson – then head of Human Resources and now a BISD board member – violated district polices in her treatment of the women.

Following the recommendations of the investigators that she be placed in administrative leave while they conducted the investigation, Atkinson sought and gained employment with the Rio Hondo ISD and the report came to naught. The report was issued on April 30, 2015, two months after BISD Superintendent Carl Montoya left the BISD.

The three administrators – Rose Longoria, Terry Alarcon, and Rose Ara – were said to have acquired legal representation after they alleged that Atkinson had violated the district's employee welfare policy through a period of two to three years of inaction by the district to address their concerns.

They alleged violations of  discrimination and harassment and violations of Title VII and retaliation.

Zabarte said the women began to keep a timeline as early as the summer of 2012 and sought legal representation after it became apparent that the district under Montoya was not going to take action to address their concerns.

In particular, Zabarte reported that the alleged violations pertained to the sections in the Employee Handbook on Professional Ethical Conduct and Conduct Toward Other Professionals and at least 12 standards of prohibited behavior.

"The code of conduct also proscribes and prescribes certain conduct: to refrain from intimidating conduct' to respect the rights of employees'; to refrain from retaliation; comply with district procedures; to refrain from gossip, rumors and threats; to refrain from prohibited conduct; to refrain from harassment and aggressive conduct; and to refrain from favoritism," the report states.

The alleged behavior not only violated the district's code of conduct, Zabarte wrote, but it also may have gone awry of the Texas Penal Code Section 39.03 on Official Oppression when a public official: "acting under the color of his office or employment commits an offense if he: (1) intentionally subjects another to mistreatment or to arrest, detention, search, seizure, dispossession, assessment, or lien that he knows is unlawful; or (2) intentionally denies or impedes another in the exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power or immunity knowing his conduct is unlawful...or to obtain a benefit or with intent to harm or defraud another by violating a law related to the office or employment, and misuses property or services that has come into his possession by virtue of his office or employment."

Zabarte's report grouped the allegations of the complainants against Atkinson into three different categories:

(1) A hostile work environment, including aggressive conduct, unprofessional conduct toward others, and retaliation

(2) Harassment through coercion of people to do things they would not normally do (possibly so that she did not have to do it herself)

(3) And using or attempting to use her influence to effectuate or to accomplish her agenda or the agendas of her family and friends.

The behavior is detailed into making people wait for meetings for inordinately long times without any discernible reason. Despite her explanation that it may not have been or purpose, the "overwhelming amount of persons who have noted this" makes the fact finder believe that the allegation was true as were the numerous witnesses who told him that Atkinson resorted to "screaming or yelling at them based on a disagreement..."

Many of the witnesses interviewed reported that she used language and postures to "bully others into accepting her position with comments like :"Is this the way it's going to be?, There are two departments that do not like you....Do you know how hard it is for me to receive calls from Pace teachers asking me to remove you?..I can't believe that you're saying I'm wrong...You don't need to be here. You're not needed...You're an elitist...," etc.

"Almost administrators from the Area administrators up including Dr. Montoya (via recording)...state that Dr. Atkinson lacked 'people skills'. The fact finder believes that allegation of bullying through language and posture are true and create a hostile work environment. In detailing instances of such behavior, Zabarte noted that several administrators reported that she had made them cry by embarrassing them or embarrassing and belittling them in front of people who were not in the chain of command.

There are countless instances in the report that indicate Atkinson became personally involved in pumping enrollment numbers, authorizing student transfers, deflating the numbers of coaches and moving them to certain schools, disbursing money to certain students and running a "Biggest Loser" contest where a monetary award was given to the participant who lost the most weight.

"Upon questioning, Atkinson first stated that Person 20 had won, and later stated that she and Person 20 won, but that she gave Person 20 the win. Conferences with Person 20 and person 20's relative, Person 16, have disclosed that Person 20 received only half the award. This is a serious matter which should be investigated further and goes to honesty, deception and misappropriation."

"Similarly, Person 12 complained Dr. Atkinson...changed job descriptions simply to hire friends, and distributed/emailed 21st Century funds at certain campuses, depending on who the friends were. In other words, certain campuses received a higher allotment per child than other campuses. (He) stated that, on some approvals, he would sign 'as per' because he felt it was wrong."

The report also notes that some complaints alleged that she used or attempted to use her influence to direct or effectuate what she wanted for her own benefit /and or for her family members' benefit even outside the scope of her hob description. Undoubtedly, Zabarte concludes, "whether or not admitted  by her, Dr. Atkinson had the ability to use her position to influence others."

It got to the point, Zabarte reported, that many felt she was Montoya's right-hand and used her relationship to intimidate others into believing she was speaking for him.

Even Montoya, in a recording, told him that "Sylvia has to have her fingers in everything," "She thinks she runs the district, She always wants more," "Her people skills fall to the wayside, I told her to quit harassing and stop sticking her nose into what is none of her business," "She thinks she'll be a superintendent, but the problem is she has no people skills" and "If you come out and complain, then I will do something about it."

"The allegations of the complaints concerning harassment in a manner prohibited by law, including the oppression and/or abuse of official capacity...having the purpose of unreasonably interfering with the employee's work performance, creating an intimidating threatening and hostile work environment and adversely affecting the employees performance environment and opportunities are sustained," Zabarte concluded.

"Furthermore, the allegations concerning violations of the Employee Standards of Conduct, Code of Ethics and Employee Handbook, and identified standards regarding Professional Ethical Conduct Toward Professionals is also sustained."