Company retaliated against black employee, agency finds

The Montana Human Rights Bureau has found reasonable cause to believe unlawful retaliation in the workplace occurred after a black team leader at TeleTech Services Corp. complained she was the target of racial discrimination at the Kalispell call center.

Kiondra Bullock, who no longer works at TeleTech, filed a complaint in June 2016 with the state bureau, claiming she was subjected to racial jokes, retaliation and a hostile work environment throughout her employment of roughly 18 months.

The complaint details how one of Bullock’s co-workers suggested another colleague’s large amount of land “could have a plantation and bring back slavery and that Ms. Bullock’s grandchildren could be the first slaves,” the complaint states.

The “plantation” reference occurred during an April 2016 conversation in which TeleTech employee Crystal Smyth and Bullock were talking about how Smyth had just moved into a home with a lot of land. Another employee, Alex Goodnight, joined the conversation and then made the comment about Bullock’s grandchildren being potential plantation slaves.

“Nearly everyone within earshot laughed,” the complaint states. Over the laughter Bullock told Goodnight and others around him there was nothing funny about the comment.

Bullock reported Goodnight’s racist joke to the company’s We Hear You line, and also reported the company’s disciplinary action against her. She was given a written warning for raising her voice to Goodnight.

Another time when Bullock reported the insubordination of a team member, her then-manager Tomi Peterson responded that there is “just something about you (Bullock) that rubs people the wrong way.”

Following yet another incident that Bullock reported to the We Hear You line, Bullock told a “human capital” team member she felt she was being singled out for being black.

“Even Site Director Tory Graham had asked Ms. Bullock several questions about being black, including why black women do not like to swim,” the complaint notes.

Bullock said a performance review of her work in August 2015 rated her as a “significant contributor” to Teletech. She also was congratulated on having one of the best attrition numbers at the branch. The following month, however, Bullock was placed on a performance improvement plan “in direct retaliation for reporting that Tomi Peterson treated her differently than other employees, according to the complaint.

Yet a January 2016 performance review rated Bullock as “always demonstrates” the values of the company, was a “significant contributor” to company goals and was “proficient” in core competencies, all the highest ratings given.

The racial discrimination started not long after Bullock started work at TeleTech in January 2015, she noted in her complaint. In February that year she reported an employee had made a racist joke, and although she reported the incident, the company’s response included no disciplinary action, training or other actions taken by TeleTech.

After other incidents occurred, the complaint notes a pattern started “of TeleTech treating her concerns differently than those of other, non-black employees.”

TeleTech’s response to the complaint indicates the company determined Goodnight’s comment was inappropriate but not racially motivated.

“Goodnight agreed his comment could be misinterpreted,” TeleTech’s position statement said. “The investigation determined Bullock took offense to the comment and unnecessarily escalated the situation by yelling so loudly it disrupted the entire building. This is not appropriate behavior for a company leader.”

Goodnight was counseled about his comment being inappropriate but otherwise received no disciplinary action.

TeleTech alleges Bullock “led by intimidation; gossiped about employees’ private lives; and repeatedly yelled, often using harsh, inappropriate language.”

Tam Newby, an investigator with the Montana Human Rights Bureau, a division of the state Department of Labor and Industry, said she found Bullock to be “credible and worthy of belief.

“Despite TeleTech’s position that Bullock was a poor manager, in her January 2016 annual performance review, Bullock received the highest possible scoring,” Newby noted in her report.

Newby also said that while Goodnight was never disciplined for his comment, Bullock was written up for her response to Goodnight’s race-based comment.

Bullock’s attorney, Nate McConnell of Missoula, wrote in a rebuttal statement that TeleTech’s response “raised more concerns than it quelled.

“TeleTech’s response to Mr. Goodnight falls in line with its reaction to all other reports that Ms.Bullock made,” McConnell wrote. “TeleTech did nothing to correct the behavior or the discriminatory and hostile work environment at its Kalispell branch.”

McConnell further asserted that the “discrimination ran much deeper than the jokes she was subjected to.

“Kiondra Bullock was treated differently by everyone in a position of power at Teletech,” he said in the rebuttal. “Any time she complained about anything, she was singled out as the complainant. ... When the company disciplined her for complaining about a colleague who suggested that her grandchildren be slaves, TeleTech constructively discharged Ms. Bullock.”

After Newby composed her final report of the TeleTech investigation, which included witness interviews and evidentiary review, the parties entered the mandated conciliation period, McConnell told the Inter Lake.

“Ms. Bullock initiated the process with a demand. Teletech failed to engage in the process, so the case moved to the Office of Administrative Hearings, where it now sits,” he said. “Each party was required to submit a preliminary pretrial statement.”

The parties haven’t yet had a scheduling conference with the hearings examiner, but that process is expected to begin soon.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.