GRIEVANCES AIRED AGAINST NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

SIKESTON -- One after one, current and former employees of the Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corp. (DAEOC) stood and told why they filed internal grievances and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints against the not-for-profit community action organization.

More than 20 people testified before a panel of state representatives and representatives for U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and U.S. Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond and John Ashcroft Monday at the Ramada Inn in Sikeston regarding allegations of racial discrimination and improper employment practices by DAEOC.

Most of those testifying worked in federal Head Start early childhood education programs operated by DAEOC throughout six counties in the Bootheel. Others were employed in other programs operated by DAEOC.

The panel was convened by five Southeast Missouri chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP began investigating the allegations last year following a number of firings and demotions that came after a federal review alleged the local Head Start programs were not in compliance with federal guidelines in some areas.

"We're giving them an opportunity to hear firsthand and ask questions of the complainants," said the Rev. Anthony Green, president of the Sikeston NAACP chapter. "We closed the meeting so it wouldn't be a destructive process. We wanted it to be a forum where we could actually hear the complaints."

State Rep. Lanie Black, R-161st District, said he thought the forum was necessary to air racial problems in the region and planned to follow up on information received at the meeting until some closure was found.

"I think if Southeast Missouri is ever going to reach its full potential, we're going to have to solve our racial problems," he said. "I'm doing what the people elected me to do."

Most people testifying said they were told prior to being demoted or fired that they were not qualified for their positions. They alleged they were then replaced by less-qualified, white people who, in most cases, were trained by the complainants.

Ida Fulton was a former disabilities specialist for DAEOC who had 35 years of experience in her field, including management of a migrant program for Southeast Missouri State University. She said she was ousted from her position while on sick leave and that DAEOC administrators maligned her job performance in open staff meetings.

"I think this was their way to discredit anything that African-Americans had done in the program," she told the panel.

There were many stories of people who said they were watched more closely and reprimanded more often than white employees in similar jobs. Supervisors from various Head Start programs said they were not given adequate personnel and administrative support as white program supervisors.

"I was a cook, a custodian, a driver, I did everything I could to hold the center together," said Margaret Fields. "I'm supposed to have 23 employees, but I've worked with a staff of 13 for I don't know how long."

Bill Whitcomb of the U.S. Department of Justice attended the forum, saying his role is not to investigate the allegations, but to try to mediate them and find an internal resolution.

Whitcomb said he has met with the DAEOC board of directors and the complainants for several months and was frustrated with what he thought to be poor handling of personnel matters.

"I thought uniformity would help the grievances get processed expeditiously ," Whitcomb said. "Listening to this really bothers me. These grievances should have been processed by now and some disposition reached."