Civil rights lawyer sends letter to Lorain outlining complaints on director's behalf

LORAIN — A Cleveland-based civil rights firm sent a letter to the mayor on behalf of a department head alleging racial bias. Attorney Avery Friedman sent a letter to Mayor Jack Bradley on March 4, on behalf of Building, Housing and Planning director Kellie Glenn. The letter notes Glenn is the only African American of the city's eight directors, and is the lowest paid. "It appears to be problematic and I requested the mayor to respond," Friedman said. "There is no formal litigation but certainly it's exploratory at this point." Friedman's letter states the city was first served a letter in May 2019, which was ignored. Another letter was sent Jan. 20, 2020, Friedman wrote. He states Glenn is paid about $10,000 less than her some of her white counterparts. Friedman states Glenn was informed toward the end of January that she would not receive a raise. The 2020 budget, discussed Monday evening, does not include any salary increases for city employees. Friedman's said the mayor, safety/service director and a member of City Council traveled to Columbus to meet with Housing and Urban Development — without taking Glenn. He adds that Safety/Service Director Max Upton was previously rejected for a position in Glenn's department, and was then appointed as her superior in Bradley's administration. "There may be non-discriminatory justifications for these actions by Lorain municipal government which are not apparent to Ms. Glenn or to her counsel, but it appears likely that race has been a factor in the hiring and maintenance of this highly qualified and competent person," Friedman wrote. He noted any adverse action taken against Glenn would be presumed retaliatory and that Glenn has filed formal charges with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. On Friday, Bradley said he referred the letter to the law department. Law Director Pat Riley provided The Chronicle-Telegram with a copy of it Monday. "I've only been here for a little over 60 days, so I think most of her complaints are about her salary and I certainly wasn't in a position to discuss salary with anyone until I had a chance to evaluate each director and evaluate how they were doing in their job," he said. In regards to the meeting with HUD, Bradley said it was a fact-finding session, as he is new to the office. He said the discussion was in part about HOME funds. The HOME program provides local housing departments funding to help increase home ownership and affordable housing opportunities in low income areas. HOME program funding for Lorain has been frozen until the city hired several new positions in the Building, Housing and Planning Department. Glenn declined to comment. Friedman is a civil rights lawyer and law professor at Cleveland Marshall College of Law and a weekend legal analyst for CNN. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.