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Nashville Department of Emergency Communications Director Stephen Martini has been placed on administrative leave pending disciplinary action following an outside investigation into his management of the department.
“Today, I received a report outlining serious factual findings substantiated against Director Steve Martini and the functions he oversees,” Mayor Freddie O’Connell said in a release. “I asked for his resignation and he declined. He has been placed on administrative leave pending disciplinary action, and we will commence the formal disciplinary process immediately.”
Issues within the department have been simmering for years after anonymous employees’ complaints to Metro Council members. In November, a current emergency communications employee publicly alleged that her harassment complaints had not been adequately addressed, triggering the outside review.
The investigator found that employees “consistently reported that Director Martini’s management practices and management style have also created a pervasive culture of fear, dissatisfaction and disengagement at DEC.”
Some of those interviewed provided information about Martini’s leadership only on the condition that it not be specifically included in the final report, out of fear of punishment, the report notes.
“It is unfortunate that it took eight months of work on behalf of the Women’s Caucus for the mayor’s office to realize the staff was telling the truth all along,” Metro Council member Joy Styles, who spearheaded a months-long pressure campaign against Martini and solicited current and former employee feedback, told the Nashville Banner. “Had they just taken the time to talk to staff and not gaslit people, we could have saved the staff months of additional heartache.”
Unlike some director-level positions in the Metro government, Martini’s role is subject to civil service rules. Patrice Coleman, a deputy in the department, will serve as interim director while the civil service disciplinary process unfolds.
“We are grateful that this administration has put the safety of Nashville citizens and visitors at the forefront of this issue,” said Maura Lee Albert of SEIU, which represents workers in the department. “Employees at DEC have bravely been speaking out for years about their working conditions, and we appreciate their courageous actions that have helped bring about the changes needed to make DEC a safe and productive workplace.”
This article first appeared on Nashville Banner and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.