NEWS RELEASE
November 8, 2001

SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO REVIEW CONCERNS
RELATED TO EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

HARTFORD – Marilyn F. Cohen, Chairman of the Metropolitan District Commission’s (MDC) Personnel, Pension and Insurance Committee, has been appointed to chair a special committee created by the MDC Board of Commissioners to review allegations of racial discrimination by a group of MDC employees.

The committee will consist of a group of commissioners and private citizens who will serve until they complete their duties. They will report their findings to the Personnel, Pension and Insurance Committee of the MDC.

Members of the special committee, chaired by Mrs. Cohen, are: Dr. David G. Carter Sr., President of Eastern Connecticut State University; MDC Commissioner Michael P. McGoldrick of West Hartford; MDC Commissioner Trude H. Mero of Hartford; Beatriz Paoli of Hartford; and Commissioner Richard F. Wareing of Hartford.

“The Metropolitan District is committed to equal opportunity for all people,” said Mrs. Cohen. “The Personnel, Pension and Insurance Committee, District Chairman Anthony H. Gallicchio and Chief Executive Officer Anthony V. Milano are deeply concerned by recent allegations of racial discrimination,” Mrs. Cohen said.

She vowed that a thorough investigation will be completed as quickly as possible, and said that she “will accept nothing less than a comprehensive study of the issues raised by employees.”

A group of minority employees brought their concerns to the Commission in October. Chairman Gallicchio, CEO Milano and MDC counsel then met on October 17 with the employees and their counsel to further explore the nature of the concerns, which involved the level of minority hiring, promotion opportunities, pay and the general work environment.

The special committee, through District Counsel Bourke G. Spellacy, has engaged John Rose Jr. of the Farmington law firm of Levy & Droney, P.C. to assist in the review. Mr. Rose “will advise the special committee whether the MDC has complied with its own rules and regulations and state and federal law concerning affirmative action and personnel practices,” said Mrs. Cohen.

“I have asked Mr. Rose to begin his work immediately and have requested that our Affirmative Action Officer be of assistance to both the lawyer and the Special Committee in this matter.”

In October, Mr. Milano appointed the Affirmative Action Officer, Rick Gomez Sr., a former 14-year staff member with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO). Mr. Gomez reports directly to Mr. Milano and is one of the few, if not the only full-time Affirmative Action Officer among New England water utilities.

One of the Affirmative Action Officer’s first priorities will be to implement a comprehensive affirmative action program and review any current discriminatory effects of past practices and policies that created barriers to equal employment opportunity, as well as to investigate all complaints of discrimination.

One role of the Affirmative Action Officer will be to “work to achieve the full and fair utilization of minorities and all protected classes by the development of the Affirmative Action Plan, an internal complaint procedure; internal and external training and recruitment,” said Mr. Milano.

The Affirmative Action Officer will create an Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, comprised of a cross-section of the MDC’s approximately 700 employees. This committee will help to advise the Affirmative Action Officer of any practices and policies that are be contrary to the MDC’s goal of equal employment opportunity, and, when appropriate, recommend modifications and/or improvements of the Affirmative Action Program. Information gathered by the advisory committee will go directly to the CEO.

A non-profit municipal corporation chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1929, the MDC supplies water and sewer services to its eight member municipalities: Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor. The MDC supplies treated water to the Town of Portland and portions of Glastonbury, East Granby, South Windsor and Farmington. The MDC owns and operates two three-megawatt hydroelectric power stations, one at the Goodwin Dam in Hartland and one at the Cole-brook River Dam in Colebrook. The MDC is an equal opportunity employer.

# # #