Park police chief alleges systematic harassment
National Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers was harassed for at least a year as she tried to reform her agency, and was eventually put on administrative leave after she filed a formal complaint against her immediate supervisor, her attorneys said Wednesday.
Lawyers for the embattled chief said she and her top deputies faced an increasingly hostile work environment during the past year that included the scattering of nails under the tires of their vehicles, placement of used condoms on and around vehicles, computer hacking, and the pepper-spraying of office doors.
On Dec. 2, 2003, Chambers filed a written complaint against her immediate supervisor, Park Service Deputy Director Donald Murphy. Three hours after the complaint was filed, Murphy placed a gag order on Chambers preventing her from talking publicly about problems in her agency, said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which has joined a legal team seeking Chambers' reinstatement. Murphy followed the gag order days later by placing Chambers on administrative leave and requesting that she be officially terminated.
Murphy disciplined Chambers after she told the media the Park Police faced serious budget and personnel shortfalls. Specifically, Murphy has charged Chambers with improper budget communications, making public remarks regarding security on federal property, improper disclosure of budget deliberations, improper lobbying, failure to carry out a supervisor's instructions, and failure to follow the chain of command.
Chambers issued a point-by-point rebuttal to the charges this week. Ruch said the charges against Chambers are illegal and appear to be in retaliation for the complaint she filed against Murphy.
Tension between Chambers and Murphy dates back to at least March 2003, according to her complaint, which was sent to Park Service Director Fran Mainella.
In the complaint, Chambers said Murphy illegally released confidential personnel records about her, repeatedly used "emotionally charged" and "unprofessional" language disparaging her, and verbally attacked her during a nationwide conference call among Park Service leaders in late November 2003.
Chambers requested that Murphy be disciplined and required to issue a public apology for his remarks. The Park Service has not disciplined Murphy to date or publicly commented about the complaint, Ruch said.
Murphy did not return a telephone call Wednesday seeking comment. A Park Service spokeswoman declined to comment because the matter is now being litigated.
Ruch said it is suspicious that Murphy took action against Chambers only three hours after she filed her written complaint against him. "It's her perception that there was a middle management layer that resented change," Ruch said.
He said there is no indication, however, that Murphy orchestrated the alleged harassment. But he said Murphy did not take action when notified about the incidents.
Ruch also fears that press reports this week citing lax security on the National Mall will be used against Chambers. On Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, 2003 investigators with the Interior Department's inspector general office tested Park Police security by placing an unattended black plastic bag stuffed with garbage at the base of the Washington Monument. Park Police never noticed the bag, investigators reported.
Investigators did not issue a public report about their test, but instead sent the results to Interior Secretary Gale Norton and the appropriate congressional committees. Although the results were known in September, they are only now being made public.
Ruch fears the release of the results is the product of a "counteroffensive" against Chambers to discredit her.
Chambers' rebuttal to the charges against her was submitted to Paul Hoffman, deputy assistant secretary of the Interior Department, who is designated as the "deciding official" for the case. Hoffman must determine whether to reinstate Chambers, terminate her or take some other action. Chambers can appeal Hoffman's decision through administrative and judicial avenues.
Ruch said he does not expect a decision to be made soon, given the amount of information that Hoffman has to review. He said Chambers' lawyers, however, will most likely seek help from the Office of Special Counsel, which protects federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, especially retaliation for whistleblowing.