Questions persist in parks inquiry

How independent was firm that investigated director?

When Gov. Doug Ducey’s office announced this month that it had found no significant wrongdoing by State Parks Director Sue Black, it based the decision on what it called an independent investigation by a law firm.

But public records obtained by The Arizona Republic show the investigating firm had been hired to engage in “consulting and investigation under the direction of” another law firm defending the state against an ex-employee’s claim she was mistreated by Black.

Further, a state contract shows the

investigators would, upon request, provide “expert testimony” for the State Risk Management Office in the case of Emily Jurmu, who had filed the claim seeking $150,000 in damages.

The firm’s owner, former state Rep. Justin Pierce, previously told The Republic that Pierce Coleman conducted an independent investigation. According to the Governor’s Office, that investigation cleared Black of breaking the law, finding problems only with “general management practices” that did not warrant Black’s termination.

One current and two former Parks employees told The Republic that when they were interviewed during the investigation, Pierce Coleman did not disclose to them that the firm was hired to provide “consultation, investigation and expert testimony” for the state’s risk management office.

Eight current or former Parks employees in interviews with The Republic corroborated Jurmu’s allegations that Black berated staff and got drunk at public events while representing the state. Black declined comment for this story.

The Republic, through the Arizona Public Records Law, obtained the “expert consultant/witness agreement” between the state and Pierce Coleman, a boutique firm that specializes in representing employers in wrongful-termination, harassment, discrimination and retaliation claims. That agreement calls for Pierce Coleman to be paid up to $35,000 for its services to assist Littler Mendelson, the law firm hired to defend the state against Jurmu’s claim.

The contract, dated Jan. 30, indicates that Pierce Coleman would be paid $250 an hour to consult or testify on the state’s behalf. The firm was paid $570 for work in January. No bills have been submitted for February, when the firm conducted interviews, or March.

Neither law firm responded to requests for comment about the contract.

Kelly Moffitt, a deputy Parks director interviewed by Pierce Coleman, said during his discussion with the investigator that “there was no mention of the second law firm.”

The Governor’s Office, which on at least five previousoccasions described Pierce Coleman’s investigation as “independent,” reiterated Monday that the probe and its findings were handled independently.

Records show that while Pierce Coleman worked “under the direction of assigned defense counsel,” it also worked for the Arizona Department of Administration’s risk management division. One of that office’s functions is to minimize damages against the state and limit or avoid financial payments stemming from any claims against the state. ADOA works directly for Ducey.

Billing records also show that in addition to hiring Pierce Coleman, the firm defending the state sought the assistance of two private investigators, including one based in metro Milwaukee.

Black, who once worked for State Parks, came back to Arizona in 2015 to run the agency after working in Wisconsin. She served as Milwaukee parks director before being fired from that job in 2012. She had received praise for securing private funding for parks improvements.

The investigation’s billing records released by ADOA are heavily redacted, with descriptions of services rendered by Littler Mendelson, Pierce Coleman and the two private investigative firms mostly blacked out.

Megan Rose, an ADOA spokeswoman, said the records were redacted because the information was protected by the attorney-client privilege. She declined to disclose the specific services provided, citing that privilege.

Black is the fourth Ducey appointee whose personnel actions have come under fire. The governor forced out the other three directors following allegations of misconduct and questionable firings of minorities, women and those over age 40.

“Our goal was to receive a full, independent review of the facts, and we were satisfied with the result,” Daniel Scarpinato, the governor’s spokesman, said of Pierce Coleman’s work. “We were interested in looking at the claim from both a legal and human resources perspective to ensure that operations at the Parks Department were meeting the governor’s expectations.”

Kylie Crawford TenBrook, a Pierce Coleman lawyer, conducted interviews with current and former Parks employees, probing certain allegations Jurmu made in her notice of claim last year, according to the people interviewed.

That claim alleged Black mistreated employees, used racial slurs, got drunk at public events, and violated the state Open Meetings Law and procurement codes.

Scarpinato said TenBrook’s review found no laws were broken. The Governor’s Office, following that presentation, called Jurmu a disgruntled employee.

The investigative findings were reported orally to the Governor’s Office, so no public written record of them exists. Neither TenBrook nor the Governor’s Office would disclose how many witnesses were interviewed. Jurmu said she was not interviewed, despite her willingness to discuss her complaints.

The recently released contract makes makes the work done by Pierce Coleman “look less than independent,” said Chris Madel, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who led the Fiesta Bowl investigation in Arizona six years ago.

Madel, based in Minnesota, also cited other factors, such as the lack of an interview with the original whistleblower and the lack of a public presentation of findings.

One current and two former Parks employees told The Republic they confirmed Jurmu’s allegations in conversations with TenBrook.

Kent Ennis, a former deputy Parks director, said he gave three specific examples to TenBrook about “very abusive, very discriminatory” behavior by Black.

Moffitt, Ennis and former Deputy Director Jay Ream previously called Pierce Coleman’s investigation “cursory.”

This week, another former Parks employee publicly corroborated Jurmu’s accusations. Like Moffitt, Ennis and Ream, Georgette McNally said she was interviewed by TenBrook.

McNally told The Republic that she believed TenBrook failed to “dig deep” into the charges made against Black.

“She asked very generic questions,” said McNally, who supervised the Parks Department’s reservation system and is now a drug treatment counselor. “I was a witness to a lot of the situations that occurred.”

McNally, who said she never had a problem with Black, corroborated Jurmu’s allegation that Black became drunk at a conference in Las Vegas and then rubbed the face of another employee. McNally also alleged that Black was abusive to Parks employees in the office.

TenBrook previously declined to respond to most questions about her investigation, citing attorney-client and workproduct privileges. “I was asked to look into the allegations contained in Ms. Jurmu’s notice of claim,” she said. “I did so, and my findings stand.”

Though Jurmu had asked for monetary damages in her claim, she has said she will not file a lawsuit. “The goal of my claim was to bring attention to and correct a number of concerns,” she said.