Because this story concerns confidentiality among city employees as well as private medical information, several of the principal sources have asked to remain anonymous, hoping to keep the personal matters private, at least for the present. Whether they will be able to do so if the controversy persists is another question.
In the interest of easier reading, here’s a summary of who’s involved:
The HR coordinator and the HR manager both work in Human Resources offices supervised by the city of Austin Human Resources Department; in June, they filed separate but nearly identical complaints that their supervisor, HR Department Assistant Director Sylvia Gonzalez, had revealed private medical information about them.
The informant is also a city employee in another department, who was the alleged conduit for the private information. He told the HR coordinator and HR manager that Gonzalez had revealed their personal information to him.
“44 Human Resources Professionals with the City Of Austin” is the signature on an anonymous e-mail sent to the City Council and the city manager accusing Gonzalez and HR Department Director Cathy Rodgers of being “not trustworthy,” of specific instances of misconduct, and of racial discrimination in hiring and promotions.
This article appears in November 23 • 2007.