JEA has commissioned an independent review of workplace culture after allegations emerged against CEO Vickie Cavey’s leadership style, the city-owned utility announced March 18.
JEA’s announcement came one day after the first meeting of a City Council committee charged with investigating the allegations against Cavey. Committee Chair Ron Salem announced at that meeting that Council would conduct a survey of 147 JEA employees through a third-party company.
JEA said it will work with Jackson Lewis P.C., an employment law firm, to coordinate the review.
Jackson Lewis plans to retain Cherie Silberman to conduct the assessment. The utility said Silberman is an employment law attorney and workplace investigator based in Tampa with no connection to JEA to conduct the assessment.
Silberman will evaluate JEA’s employment policies, conduct interviews with leadership and employees and take any additional steps necessary in her investigation, JEA said.
“No JEA employee, including members of management, will participate in or influence the investigation process beyond administrative coordination such as scheduling and providing requested documentation,” a JEA spokesperson wrote.
Silberman’s review is scheduled to coincide with JEA’s employee engagement survey, administered by Energage in mid- to late-April, the utility said. The results of both the independent review and the employee survey would be reported directly to the JEA board of directors.
Since February, Cavey has faced allegations of racism and “toxic behavior” in her leadership of JEA. Council President Kevin Carrico, Council member Ju’Coby Pittman, former JEA Chief of Staff Kurt Wilson and JEA board member Rick Morales III have said they heard concerns about Cavey’s leadership from employees.
Cavey has denied the allegations.
Before the Feb. 24 JEA board meeting, Wilson told The Florida Times-Union that he was fired after he raised concerns about Cavey’s leadership style to board Chair Joseph DiSalvo.
After JEA’s announcement, Salem said he had no plans to cancel the survey the Council committee would commission.
“The employees are scared of anything that JEA does,” Salem said. “Our survey will be completed by an outside person with no ability to identify the response of any particular employee.”
Salem said after a March 17 meeting of the investigatory committee that he hoped the survey would be distributed in 30 to 60 days.
He said the committee would survey former employees with a separate inquiry. Salem previously said he planned to use a third-party company to conduct the surveys.
“JEA’s sudden decision to launch its own ‘independent’ review comes far too late — and only after months of unanswered questions, mounting concerns about workplace culture, missing funds, and skyrocketing utility costs for ratepayers,” Council President Kevin Carrico said. “Quite frankly, this feels like a Johnny-come-lately response prompted not by accountability, but by the City Council asking tough questions.”