{"id":35106,"date":"2020-12-23T20:59:04","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T20:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/12\/23\/hill-air-force-base-equal-employment-opportunity-director-removed\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:03:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:03:07","slug":"hill-air-force-base-equal-employment-opportunity-director-removed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/12\/23\/hill-air-force-base-equal-employment-opportunity-director-removed\/","title":{"rendered":"Hill Air Force Base Equal Employment Opportunity director removed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Equal Employment Opportunity director for Hill Air Force Base in Utah has been removed from her position for \u201cimproperly and unlawfully handling complaints involving sexual harassment and discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Details of the director\u2019s conduct were posted on the U.S. Office of Special Counsel<\/a> website Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An investigation<\/a> by the Air Force Materiel Command Office of Inspector General substantiated the improper handling of the complaints by former director Lori K. Grimes, to include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2666 Actively discouraged employees from filing EEO complaints, including telling one whistleblower that her (later substantiated) sexual harassment claims against her supervisor \u201cwouldn\u2019t carry weight\u201d and \u201cwouldn\u2019t go anywhere\u201d when the whistleblower tried to file a complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2666 Illegally modified and rejected EEO complaints and allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2666 Gave employees false and misleading information about the EEO process, including illegally denying a whistleblower the ability to remain anonymous at the informal stage of the EEO process and telling a filer that she was not entitled to file a claim when the filer was, in fact, entitled to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2666 Failed to identify conflicts of interest by management during the EEO mediation process, including allowing a senior official accused of wrongdoing in a whistleblower\u2019s EEO filing to serve as the sole settlement authority for the agency during that whistleblower\u2019s EEO mediation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to the findings, the Air Force<\/a> agreed to take \u201csignificant corrective actions<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those included removing the director and reassigning her to another office that isn\u2019t involved with EEO filings, improving annual EEO training, issuing new EEO policies regarding conflicts of interest, and further investigative action into the conduct of two attorneys, also not named, in the Hill AFB Civil Law Division who \u201cfailed to identify conflicts of interest during the EEO settlement process,\u201d according to the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\t