CITY HALL
Joya Hayes, director of the city’s Human Resources Department, misused city resources and abused her position by directing staffers to care for her child while Hayes attended meetings, according to a complaint filed by the Office of the City Auditor.
The allegation came to light last week when the Ethics Review Commission posted its agenda for this week’s meeting. The complaint against Hayes is one of three the commission is scheduled to discuss.
The complaint was filed by Brian Molloy, chief of investigations for the auditor’s office. The complaint states that the city auditor’s office “received multiple allegations of abuse and waste” against Hayes related to employees taking care of her child.
According to the report, auditors “determined that Hayes solicited and accepted favors from employees in various city departments … Specifically, we determined that two HRD employees transported (redacted) to or from daycare and looked after (redacted) while Hayes worked. This occurred on multiple occasions and one of those employees reports directly to Hayes. The reporting relationship is significant because Hayes is responsible for their performance appraisal and compensation. Additionally we determined that at least two employees from the city manager’s office watched Hayes’s (redacted) while she attended meetings at City Hall. Hayes admitted to some of these actions in an interview with our office.”
Auditors stated that they encountered “multiple employees who expressed a fear of retaliation,” while they were investigating the matter. They also said some employees appeared reluctant to provide information, which “may have limited our ability to fully identify all potential violations.”
On one occasion, Hayes asked one of her employees to take the child to daycare so that Hayes could catch a flight. Hayes told investigators that on at least four occasions the employee had taken the child to daycare, to the employee’s home or to the home of one of Hayes’ relatives.
Hayes told the Austin American-Statesman, “The findings of this report establish an unrealistic expectation that prevents any reasonable parent from serving in executive level positions that require work before and after normal business hours, 7 days a week, year-round. Some of the information included in the report is also false and unsubstantiated.”
Photo by John Flynn.
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