Internal conflicts lead to director's transfer

Fowler transferred to a position at the Mid-South Training Institute in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice on May 25 following allegations leveled against him in a formal complaint filed with the Employee Relations office.

The complaint, filed by crime prevention specialist and former staff senate president Maurice ‘Moe’ Williams, alleged claims of racial discrimination and unfair treatment by Fowler.

However, after investigating Williams’ claim, The University found no evidence of racial discrimination against Fowler, although he was reprimanded for a Feb. 2 “public outburst” directed at Williams and forced to submit a written apology for the incident. In addition, Fowler was given a strict list of procedures to follow, including prohibiting him from directly disciplining employees and requiring that he show “appreciation and to publicly praise” his employees. He was also required to take an anger management class.

The University also concluded Williams was not a victim of “unfair treatment.”

In fact, the report concluded that the poor performance reviews Fowler had recently given Williams were justified and evidence supported claims of his “being inaccessible, not returning phone calls, not completing projects on time without help and poor organizational skills.”

According to a report written by Michelle Banks, an equal opportunity/affirmative action compliance officer assigned to conduct the investigation, the Feb. 2 conflict between Fowler and Williams, as well as previous issues between the two, ultimately led to the complaint.

The Feb. 2 incident occurred during an altercation with a drunken public safety employee which required the involvement of several officers as well as Fowler. During the altercation, Williams approached Fowler and advised him of a scheduling conflict.

Although accounts differ, Fowler told Banks he became “very upset” when Williams told him he could not conduct a public safety presentation for the Math Department because of a conflicting meeting with Shirley Raines, The University’s new president.

Fowler was alleged to have accused Williams of inadequately performing his assigned duties as crime prevention specialist. While only one of 14 employees interviewed during Banks’ investigation indicated he heard any of the actual conversation, Fowler was reprimanded by The University a week later and forced to apologize while Williams was not.

Fowler and Williams have worked together at The University for more than 16 years. Prior to that, the two had worked together at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. In 1986, Fowler promoted Williams from parking assistant to police officer. Ten years later, Williams was appointed to interim assistant shift commander by Fowler and in 1998 he was selected as crime prevention coordinator. According to The University’s investigation, there had been “little disagreement” between the two until recently.

In his complaint, Williams alleged Fowler “frequently” directed discriminatory remarks toward him, including the terms “boy, Moe-igger and Moe-digger.” Although Fowler told investigators he had used the terms “boy” and “Moe-digger,” he denied using them in a derogatory manner.

In fact, the report stated several employees said Fowler often referred to both black and white employees as “boy.”

According to several public safety employees, Fowler and Williams’ relationship often included a casual use of profanity and harmless banter. In fact, most of the employees said the complainant had “much more latitude to say things to the Director as compared to other officers.” Some recalled Williams jokingly calling Fowler “bitch” during exchanges between the two.

“One person remarked that it was not uncommon for the Director and complainant to have screaming and yelling matches in the Director’s office, which sometimes included the complainant slamming doors, only to later hear them laughing and even going to lunch together,” the report states.

The University concluded Fowler’s transfer would bring closure to what assistant vice president for human resources Mary Ann Camp called “a long history of managerial problems in the department of public safety.”

In Banks’ final report, she concluded, “Mr. Fowler’s questionable management skills and lack of judgment in his choice of words cannot be tolerated any longer for the good of The University and the good of the (public safety) department.”