Employee Harassment Continues: Hostile Work Environment |
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(Photo: by author) 24/11/2020 Island Matters anonymously received a copy of a Hostile Work Environment complaint on November 3, 2020, written by former South Padre Island Fire Inspector Alexana Torres.
[Attached] is the letter sent to Island Matters and confirmed by Ms. Torres. In this attachment, Torres provides a detailed history of her hostile work environment since being hired in late May. In the letter, Torres accounts for several instances, including: - being directed to disregard the fire code,
- failed inspections,
- illegal activity,
- patterns of Mayor McNulty not wanting to comply with city codes or pay fees,
- ignored violations,
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Chief Pigg acting unprofessionally and aggressively,
- problems with work hours,
- a threatening phone call, and
- being left out of plans she needed to approve to pass them quickly.
"I started to get requests to expedite and approve plan reviews, to give priority to certain projects, to do short-notice inspections, and to do everything to pass them even when the inspection results were clearly and dangerously deficient. The requests were for projects being built by or for Patrick McNulty, his friends, or business associates. The associates included other council members, and even former mayors and those with a lot of influence around the island," wrote Torres. (reference: pg. 2)
Businesses included in non-compliance, failed inspections & re-inspections, deficient, and unsafe according to the Hostile Work Environment document: - 2501 Laguna Blvd - Tequila Sunset Bar & Grill
- 6516 Padre Blvd - Turtle Plaza
- 100 Padre - Holiday Inn
- 2700 Padre Blvd - The Kraken
- 5705 Gulf Blvd
- 1601 Padre Blvd - Chaos
- 107 W Mesquite - Church
- 5800 Padre Blvd
Torres wrote she found out that the Mayor was the owner and contractor of Tequila Sunset Bar & Grill and continuously failed inspections. Chief Pigg asked her to title them as "Courtesy Fire Safety Inspection," she wrote, "so that it would not look bad for the mayor to have failed an inspection." According to the letter regarding McNulty's Bar (Tequila), "There have been multiple failed re-inspections, many emails, and very slow compliance since June 16, 2020." She wrote that in the past five months, McNulty has "yet to comply with all the requirements requested in the first letter."
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When Torres received complaints from Chief Pigg, he became unprofessional and aggressive when projects were owned or contracted by McNulty. "He yelled at me and told me that this project needed to pass now, that it wasn't a request and that he expected results immediately. He said that it was an order that was coming from someone higher than him and that both the Mayor (Patrick McNulty) and City Manager (Randy Smith) were very angry about the delay of this project."
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After being expected to provide results and not "getting the hint," Torres wrote, "I told Chief Pigg that I could not pass the projects that included 2501 Laguna Blvd, (Tequila Sunset) or 6516 Padre, (Turtle Plaza) because they had a complete disregard for the code adopted by the South Padre Island City Council. Plans were shoddy at best and non-existent at worst. Many times, construction had started without any permits issued whatsoever. Chief Pigg became extremely aggravated at my insistence on following the requirements of the code. I went to his office to discuss this the first time it happened and thought it best to record the conversation for my protection. I explained what was going on and that I was unwilling to take this kind of pressure and treatment from someone who knew better than not to follow the rules. I was willing to resign my position that day, but Chief Pigg acted like I was overreacting and that he did not want me to quit." (pg. 4)
Through the permitting process, businesses were unable to continue without complying, and Torres was threatened by a man who called from an unknown number, asking her if she knew whose plans she had denied. "Do you know whose plans you are denying? The Mayor is a very powerful man, and you do not want to piss him off. If you don't want what happened to the last inspector to happen to you, you better start knowing who you are working for and stop making it so difficult to open businesses." (pg. 10)
As a fire inspector, coworkers often complimented Torres for bringing structure to the fire inspector's office by conducting thorough inspections and was told by her peers that she "was doing a great job." After the threatening phone call, she wrote that her peers had said, "When it comes to doing the right thing, people do not like that on this island. The more you want to enforce the law, follow the rules, or want to fix things, the more problems you will encounter and the easier it is to lose your job. Why do you think nobody wanted your job?" (pg. 10)
[Note: Ms. Ashley Bowen (Former Fire Inspector) and Mr. David Travis (Former Building Official) turned in resignations earlier this year along with Mr. Aaron Hanley (Former Planning Director), whose position was eliminated during budget cuts.]
Additional documentation has been requested but not received from the City. Island Matters is following this story. Torres has since resigned her position as Fire Inspector for the City of South Padre Island. |
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