Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) — Howard County Executive Alan Kittleman and three of his predecessors say Sheriff James Fitzgerald needs to resign immediately after an investigation by the county’s Office of Human Rights found Fitzgerald used racial slurs towards minorities working for him, including the “n-word,” and “punished” employees who didn’t support his 2010 run for re-election.
“The conclusions of the report are deeply disturbing, and those words and thoughts are deplorable and have no place in our society, especially when they come from an elected law enforcement official,” Kittleman said in a statement issued Thursday that was also signed by former executives Ken Ulman, James Robey and Edward Cochran. All four men condemned Fitzgerald’s actions and said he needs to resign to restore the trust of the community.
The Office of Human Rights started investigating the sheriff’s behavior in 2015 after Lieutenant Charles Gable filed a complaint. Investigators interviewed many employees and heard about the sheriff’s inappropriate and offensive behavior again and again.
The office’s report found Fitzgerald created a “severe and pervasive hostile work environment” by bullying employees and calling them names. Not only did the sheriff verbally berate Gable and countless others, but he also refused to promote anyone who didn’t support his re-election effort and gave them less desirable work assignments.
Investigators found the sheriff retaliated against Gable for complaining about discrimination to the Office of Human Rights and government officials. Kittleman told WMAL there were rumors about the sheriff’s behavior but nothing described was as severe as what the report reveals. Kittleman also didn’t think any formal complaints were made against Fitzgerald except for the one Gable filed.
Gable ultimately left his job.
When questioned by investigators, the sheriff denied all the allegations against him and them he’s just “a loud New Yorker.”
“Finally Sheriff Fitzgerald avers that he has never made negative comments, gestures, and/or derogatory epithets against African-Americans in the workplace,” said the report.
Fitzgerald also told investigators he worked hard to increase diversity in the office.
Kittleman said he hasn’t talked to Fitzgerald since the report came out.
“I hope that he would heed the call of all of us for him to step down so that we can move on and get things fixed there in the sheriff’s office, but that’s a decision that he has to make,” Kittleman said.
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