Ousted human resources workers file complaint against North Las Vegas

In May, North Las Vegas outsourced its human resources department, dumping two employees critical of city leadership.

Now those employees are fighting back.

Tammy Bonner and Bachera Washington filed a complaint alleging retaliation Friday with the Employee Management Relations Board, a government entity that handles disagreements between employers and employees. The move to privatize human resources to save money was a ruse to get rid of employees who stood up to the mayor, the complaint says.

The complaint argues Mayor John Lee was abusing his office to hire friends and acquaintances who weren't qualified for city jobs. The hirings had a trend — white members of the Mormon Church, Lee's religion, according to the complaint. The city charter states the mayor can't have "any administrative duties."

Being in the department in charge of hiring, Bonner and Washington noticed and decided to speak out.

In February, word got out to city leadership that Bonner and Washington were preparing to file an ethics complaint against Lee for his behavior, according to the complaint. The next month, City Manager Qiong Liu, announced she was looking to outsource their department. She backed up the idea by saying Reno had done the same, but that wasn't true. Reno had not outsourced its entire human resources department. It does outsource functions such as workers' compensation, a function North Las Vegas already outsourced.

The City Council voted to outsource human resources in May. Although the move was contingent on the City Council's approval, Bonner's and Washington's final checks were dated the day of the vote, according to the complaint.

Liu told the employees they were being laid off because there were no jobs to move them to, despite North Las Vegas Fire Chief Jeff Lytle asking multiple times to have Bonner move to a funded position in his department, according to the complaint. Additionally, an employee with "no significant human resources experience" was put in charge of assisting the company hired to take over human resources, a job either Bonner or Washington could have done, the complaint says.

Bonner and Washington have successfully challenged the city before. In 2013, the city took away their raises — from $89,748 to $104,631 — after the mayor received an anonymous complaint about the increases, according to the lawsuit. The complaint says the raises were a result of increased responsibilities due to two vacancies that the then-director had decided to not fill.

The city settled with Bonner and Washington in December 2014, agreeing to pay them a salary of $100,000 and give them back pay.

After the settlement, Bonner and Washington were cut out of collective bargaining and Cass Palmer, the new director of neighborhood and leisure services, handled union negotiations, the complaint says. Palmer doesn't have a background in parks and recreation, but has an extensive human resources background. Their jobs gutted, the two requested regular meetings with the city manager but could not get answers or meaningful work, the complaint says.

Adam Levine, Bonner's and Washington's attorney, has called the move to outsource "blatant retaliation" for the settlement. Levine did not respond to a request for comment.

The complaint asks that Bonner and Washington be given their jobs back, along with back pay and attorney's fees.

Bonner has been with the city 13 years, Washington, 22.

Lee and city spokesman Mitch Fox did not respond to requests for comment.

Contact Bethany Barnes at bbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Find her on Twitter: @betsbarnes