Vegas PBS whistleblower alleges workplace retaliation, racism

(Photo: Hugh Jackson/Nevada Current)

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A current employee at Vegas PBS has filed a discrimination complaint against the station, saying she’s risking her job because she wants to bring attention to “a culture of retaliation and racism.”

Vegas PBS Director of Marketing Terry Chi in September filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Nevada Equal Rights Commission (NERC) alleging systemic racism, retaliation against a whistleblower and workplace mobbing, or collective abuse from managers to force people out of work. She said she also contacted multiple departments at national PBS, including the diversity council, who have declined to become involved.

Vegas PBS is a public television station that reaches 400,000 weekly viewers in four Nevada counties, as well as portions of Utah, California and Arizona. It is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service and receives public funds under the federal Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 , whose mission includes creating “programs addressing the needs and interests of minorities.”

Vegas PBS’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadcast license is held by the elected members of the Clark County School District Board of Trustees. Vegas PBS employees are employees of the school district, though the station operates mostly independently.

In 2023, Vegas PBS had a roughly $15 million budget, including $1.7 million in unrestricted federal grants, $8.3 million from local government appropriations, $109,000 from state funds and $32,000 from federal sources.

Chi, who is Chinese American, said the opportunity to work at a PBS member station was a “dream” because shows such as “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” and “Sesame Street” shaped her childhood and helped her learn English. But it quickly transformed into a “nightmare” that led to a vertigo diagnosis and daily heart palpitations.

“When I started, I was for several months the pet,” she said. “But quickly after a few months, I could start feeling the daggers in my back.”

‘Dismissed, disrespected, discounted, marginalized’

Chi was hired by Vegas PBS as director of marketing by President and General Manager Mary “Mare” Mazur in early 2022.

Now Chi points to Mazur as the main reason she is speaking out. Over her roughly two years with Vegas PBS, Mazur issued Chi 15 disciplinary write-ups and multiple negative performance reviews, called three investigative hearings in front of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-Technical Employees ( CCASAPE) union and CCSD Human Resources. She said Mazur also barred her from the Vegas PBS annual fundraising gala and “all major donor events,” which was followed by a 5-day suspension without pay.

Chi alleges the acts were in retaliation for questions about taking on extra work outside of her job description, such as membership department duties, and for objecting to racist comments.

“I didn’t work this hard in my life to be dismissed, disrespected, discounted, marginalized,” Chi said, who prior to joining Vegas PBS worked in the private sector for three decades. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

On May 19, 2022, Chi gave a presentation to the Southern Nevada Public Television (SNPT) Board, the appointed board that helps the station secure financial and volunteer support. It was later relayed to Chi, through Mazur, that in response to her presentation, Kim Walker, the board treasurer, said “Terry’s presentation was great… I wouldn’t want to meet her in a back alley.”

Chi said she immediately construed the remark as “loaded with unconscious bias, [that was made] because she is a smart, articulate Asian woman.” She said the concern was ignored by Mazur who told her to take the remark made by Walker as a compliment.

When Chi refused to do so, she said Mazur retaliated against her through write-ups and punitive work actions.

Walker and Mazur, who were college roommates, declined to participate in this story. Mazur was also elected to the SNPT Board last year.

According to CCSD policy , “offensive and unwelcome jokes” constitute unlawful discrimination or harassment. It also states that the CCSD Human Resources Department of Diversity and Affirmative Action is responsible for ensuring that “all persons can … work in dignity and security and are not required to endure insulting, degrading, harassing or exploitative treatment.”

Chi said after she called out what she believed was racism within the organization, things quickly began to go downhill.

“Vegas PBS and the Clark County School District has been the most racist and discriminatory environment I’ve ever experienced,” Chi said.

She filed a 35-page complaint with CCSD that documents more than three dozen allegations, including six claims of racism, two dozen accusations of retaliation, four claims that allege CCSD has enabled illegal work actions, including against a whistleblower, and one instance in which she was pressured to feel unwelcome by colleagues at a “non-work related luncheon.” Chi also wrote in the complaint that her name was removed from an award submission for “The Great Vegas Recipe” program that she produced and won an Emmy for.

Chi’s name was reinstated after the Emmy Board of Directors opened an investigation.

CCSD declined to comment on the allegations and as to whether there is an investigation into the claims.

“The workplace mobbing and the dehumanization of people of color whose lives and livelihoods are ruined without conscience is what racism looks like in the workplace,” Chi said.

Before coming to Nevada, Mazur was general manager at Arizona PBS. Ebonye Delaney, a former assistant production manager who worked under Mazur in Arizon, said Mazur interacted with her in a “drastically different” tone than with another Black woman on staff: “With me, she was very short and seemed to, just not particularly care for my dress or my appearance.”

Delaney is dark-skinned and wears her hair naturally, later transitioning into dreadlocks. She said on multiple occasions Mazur micro-aggressed by highlighting “our socio-economic differences” and dredging up “uncomfortable cultural conversations.”

“She’s not gonna outright call you a name,” Delaney said. “But it’s in her interactions with people – how she treats people, as she talks to them.”

Workplace mobbing

Chi alleges Mazur does not extend contracts beyond the probationary period for directors of color. Instead, she retained or promoted only white workers whom she identifies with.

“She surrounded herself with people who are like her,” said one former Vegas PBS employee who requested anonymity out of fear speaking publicly would affect their career.

They said Mazur “rules by fear” and restructured the chain of command so that directors report to two directors, instead of the general manager.

Jennifer McGrew Shell, a former Vegas PBS project manager for the educational media services department, echoed allegations of retaliation and bullying at Vegas PBS. She is a white woman who worked under a director.

McGrew Shell said she was the victim of retaliation and workplace bullying which led her to file a 200-page grievance alleging a hostile work environment to CCASAPE, in March 2022, after working there for nearly three years. She said after filing a complaint with human resources in December 2021, she received a write-up once a month until her contract ended in June and her evaluations went from above average to unprofessional.

McGrew Shell wrote in the complaint to the union that her director created a culture of “fear, oppression and hostility” in the workplace. According to emails, the union determined McGrew Shell was dealing with “supervisory professionalism” rather than a hostile work environment, and told her the issue had to be “addressed by those who are within you/your supervisor’s chain of command.”

“It is the worst situation I’ve ever experienced – as a 60-year old woman – in my life,” McGrew Shell said.

Chi, who serves on the CCSD Superintendent’s Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, believes part of the solution has to include changing the policy at CCSD regarding probation periods for Vegas PBS administrators.

Vegas PBS employees have a 3-year probation period, which Chi thinks is excessive and harmful to workers, especially Black and brown people. Under Nevada statute, workers do not “have a right to employment” during the probationary period.

She hopes to work with lawmakers for the next several years until the policy is changed.

“The unions say, ‘We can’t protect you. You’re on probation,’” said Chi. “Well… Why are we paying you dues if you can’t protect our jobs?”

According to Jeff Horn, head of CCASAPE, all union members get equal protection while paying dues: “There is not a lot of protection during the probationary period,” he said via email. “However … if a probationary administrator is non-renewed without discipline or ineffective evaluation, CCASAPE would challenge.”

Chi’s contract will terminate at the end of June based on poor performance reviews.

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