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County hopes to save by outsourcing HR: 2 workers laid off; Denver firm hired
(Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 30--In her 2005 performance evaluation, former El Paso County Director of Employment Sue Autry's knowledge of employment law and procedure was called "invaluable to the county."
Yet at the end of July, just more than two years after Autry was recruited to run the county's human resources department, her $105,000 salary was cause for alarm for county administration.
Autry, 63, was laid off along with Employee Services Manager David Seyfert, 57, their duties distributed among staff in the Employment, Benefits and Medical Services Department and contracted out to Denverbased human resources firm Mountain States Employer's Council.
Mountain States will handle investigations, training, employment services and the development of a new policies and procedures manual.
Seyfert's salary was $76,000.
The county predicts it will save more than $200,000 a year by consolidating and using a contract service.
"A lot of those services we were outsourcing to other people already, and Ms. Autry was outsourcing, so we will probably pull those back in from other vendors and push those to Mountain States," said Deputy County Administrator Monnie Gore. "So we're not going to spend more on outside vendors, we are just going to move it from here to there."
Autry said she is one of several outspoken women employed by the county who were pushed out the door for questioning the status quo.
Proof of friction between administration and Autry surfaced in a May 15 letter from Gore expressing concern about a "lack of communication" between himself and Autry.
"It has come to my attention that you are at times inappropriately aligning yourself with employees rather than acting as a representative of management," Gore wrote.
Later in the letter, Gore said Autry's "role is ultimately to represent and protect management and elected and appointed officials from liability."
Autry contacted a lawyer, Greg Walta, after receiving that letter.
Throughout her two years with the county, Autry said she raised concerns about several county policies and procedures, questioned management of the county's self-insurance fund and raised her eyebrows when several high-level positions went to men employed by the county.
But, with glowing performance evaluations that hailed her professionalism, dependability and integrity, county administration had little basis to fire her, she said.
"Loyalty is defined as, 'Don't tell me anything I don't want to hear,'" Autry said of county management. "And I think that is tragic. It makes for an unhealthy organization."
Gore declined to comment on Autry's personnel matters.
Seyfert did not return calls seeking comment.
Autry was told she was being laid off on the morning of July 25, hours after she slipped a letter from Walta under the doors of all five county commissioners and County Administrator Jeff Greene.
The letter detailed Autry's sentiment that El Paso County administrative offices were a hostile working environment, unfriendly to aging and female employees.
When Gore called her to his office that day, Autry was told the county was outsourcing her position.
She also said she was told she had lost her objectivity in handling personnel matters, something she had also been accused of in the May 15 letter from Gore.
"What that means in my mind is that I didn't side with management in every single situation," Autry said last week.
Gore planned to notify Autry of the layoff on July 24 but had a message that she had gone home sick, he said.
"Her statements for retaliation against this letter are completely unfounded," Gore said.
County officials say the idea of eliminating the Employment Services Department came from Sheriff Terry Maketa and other elected officials during a budget discussion at the Sept. 7 county commission meeting.
Seyfert took a severance package of eight weeks' pay, equaling $11,700, and signed a confidentiality agreement.
"I think Dave is just a victim in the situation, because I really think it was directed against me," Autry said.
Autry did not accept the county's severance offer, nor did she sign a confidentiality agreement.
She and Walta did not attend a hearing at the county last week because they had not received the documents they requested from the county.
Autry has until Sept. 15 to accept the severance package.
She said she will explore her legal options.
In December, Mountain States will review the amount of work performed for the county and bill accordingly.
A new contract will then be negotiated for next year.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0232 or carlyn.mitchell@gazette.com
To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazette.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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