When Metro Water District managers fired electrician Donovan Hemway after he was nearly electrocuted, they stirred up already murky waters—and several government investigations of Metro Water are under way, as Hemway fights to get his job back.

Speaking to the board of the water district—which serves about 50,000 people in the northwest, northeast and southwest areas of metro Tucson, according to its website—Hemway said on Aug. 13 that he was nearly electrocuted on May 10, when he became drenched while working in a live, 480-volt cabinet at Metro’s DeConcini well site. Hemway had worked for Metro for almost six years. (See “Sparks Flying,” Currents, Sept. 20.)

“I was nearly killed,” Hemway told the board then. Hemway had been ordered to do a pump-efficiency test. Now, Hemway is insistent about getting his job back.

Jessie Atencio, assistant director of the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, wouldn’t comment about the division’s investigation.

Hemway said he has received confirmation that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has begun a separate investigation of his termination, which occurred while he was on family and medical leave. The electrician’s charge of employment discrimination is pending at the state Attorney General’s Office, and an interview has been scheduled, he said.

Hemway’s first victory came when Metro Water, on the eve of a formal hearing, decided not to fight his workers’ compensation claim. The Industrial Commission of Arizona sent Hemway a letter notifying him that the Employers Compensation Insurance Co. had accepted his claim for compensation over job-caused medical issues.

Hemway sent the ICA a letter on Nov. 15 relaying reports from employees that a Metro Water supervisor was intimidating workers. Hemway charged that the supervisor told several people, including witnesses to the May 10 incident, that “if Mr. Hemway sues, there will be layoffs.”

The supervisor also reportedly made light of a 6-inch hose rupture as “just a pinhole leak,” despite company video showing Hemway drenched while near a live electrical connection. Hemway’s letter argued this showed “a pattern of unlawful disregard in a hostile work environment” that could lead to “stress claims and even a fatality.”

The company received the letter at 11:33 a.m. on Nov. 16, according to a delivery-confirmation service. Hemway claims that at 1:28 p.m. that day, he observed the supervisor in question driving slowly down his street.

While Hemway sees his battle with the company as David versus Goliath, the fallout may be affecting Metro Water in other ways. At a public hearing Oct. 22 on proposed rate increases, Metro customer David Tanner, a former company supervisor, asked a series of questions about Metro’s practices. According to the meeting minutes (posted on the Metro website, www.metrowater.com), one of the questions involved how much Metro was paying attorneys “to fight employees who complained about wage and hour law and job-safety violations.”

General manager Mark Stratton said the amount was not yet known. Board chairman Bryan Foulk denied any company wrongdoing, saying nothing was “being swept under the carpet.”

Another question from Tanner: “Is the rate increase needed so managers can continue to attend conferences at Whiskey Pete’s in Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino near Las Vegas?”

Stratton responded that the only manager who attended a conference there was deputy general manager Chris Hill. Hill was the person who initiated the change in a pump-testing procedure that almost killed Hemway when a hose ruptured, Hemway said. According to the conference prospectus, Hill was to teach a Sept. 25 class on “Reducing Risks and Costs.”

Tanner also asked about Foulk’s comments at a previous board meeting that debt service was “strangling the district.” Seventy-five percent of Metro’s annual income, $6.6 million, reportedly goes to debt service. Foulk said he was misquoted. His statement, however, remains in Metro Water’s approved board minutes from Aug. 13.

Another Metro customer, Annette Cline, sent an email to the board opposing the rate increase, adding, “I don’t really get the impression that my opinion as a longtime Metro customer really matters to the board of directors, anyway.” The Southern Arizona Home Builders Association wrote the board that any increase in connection fees “will adversely affect our builder members.”

The board dropped the proposed water-connection fee increase, but voted unanimously to raise the base rate by $2.50 a month; to increase water consumption charges by 4 percent; and to establish to a new water-resource-utilization fee of 10 cents per thousand gallons.

Metro Water customer Donovan Hemway, unemployed since his discharge from the company, will have to pay the new rates while he continues his battle to get his job back.

This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 5, 2012.

10 replies on “Murky Matters”

  3. Whistleblower Donovan Hemway should not have been fired to begin with, he has always been a safe honest hard worker. Janet Gallup was an excellent dedicated safety officer. We should know, we worked with them for over 5 years. The wrong ones got fired, will Metro Water ever begin to do what is right?

    http://www.metrowater.com/pdf/IVH_081312.pdf

  4. Whistleblower protection boosted, Nov 28th, 2012 AP news excerpt; The federal official who investigates retaliation, Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner, said that her office “stands ready to implement these important reforms, which will better ensure that no employee suffers retaliation for speaking out against local government waste or misconduct.” … to stop illegal retaliation, the law would make it easier to discipline those responsible.

  5. Have those responsible at Metro Water been fired yet and why not? They can’t rehire Mr. Hemway until the bad apples in charge are gone, otherwise the same managers will retaliate again and use more ratepayer monies for the legal defense of their wrongdoing. What does that Foulk and the other board members have to say about this shameful situation and why do they choose to look the other way? It doesn’t appear to matter to this board of directors, they don’t pay for the corporate mismanagement and violating whistle blower laws, we do.

  6. This is so typical of Metro water. Why do you think that Janet, as a safety officer was so frustrated? Not to mention all the good employees they have let go. The turn over rate speaks for itself. Discrimination accusations, forcing people out, and so on. As a former worker at Metro, I was ordered to open the electrical cabinets and work in them. Thank god a coworker that brought the issue to the former superintendent, (that is still employed there) in a round table meeting, we were no longer allowed in the electrical cabinets. Also, wondering who they were talking about laying off. Will they start at the top with the G.M. and work their way down? Not likely.

  7. I am amazed at the wrongdoing I see here. How can so many good people stay quiet and allow this to happen. The truth must come out to protect others. Where are your souls?

  8. Since Janet resigned actual safety is only a memory, injuries now go unreported to avoid being fired. Everyone knows about the side business Mark and Chris run on Metro’s time with the RTA kickbacks on top. Family, buddies and extra-marital partners’ husbands get contracts without going through our three bid system. Warren’s dual position with CAP allows him to juggle the recharge credits on both ends. Crony board members are first in on the bond debt deals. Honest board members and employees like Lauretta and Helen get forced out and called crazy if they don’t play ball. Bosses’ cronies do little work while the real producers are intimidated daily and encouraged to quit if they don’t like it, it disgusting and no secret. We have been long overdue for these investigations. Don’s near fatality was far from an accident. When he sues them he will probably own the company. Our work climate will remain hostile without this management being exposed and an employee class action suit. The company lawyers here wear blinders and are draining our funds to cover the corruption. We are afraid for our jobs to speak at work, somebody please help us with METRO WATERS MURKY MATTERS. MDWIDinformant

  9. This is one side of the story and most of it is twisted. Don Hemway and his buddy Albert Lannon are lying. The Tucson Weekly should be embarrassed their publication is being used for nothing more than vindictive harassment. Where is the Editor? Journalism standards are a thing of the past I guess. The comments above are very likely written by Don, posing as current employees. He’s known for this type of manipulation. Let’s get one thing very clear. Don, you do not speak for Metro Water staff. The majority of us were relieved when you were fired and it had nothing to do with you getting wet on the job (and that’s all it was, we all saw the video). Move on with your life. Get some help.

  10. If “Enough is Enough” thinks I’m lying, please tell us what the lie is. Accusations should be based on facts, and EiE provides none. The Weekly, on the other hand, insists I provide documentation and citations to back up what I write, and I believe I have done so. And, if you re-read the article, much of it is taken from Metro’s own meeting minutes posted on their website. I don’t need to make up anything when such a great public source exists.

    Further, I called Stratton, Hill and Foulk for the earlier article hoping to get their side of the story. None returned my calls, but their attorney — whose own website brags about her record fighting for employers against workers who have been wronged — called to say, “No Comment.”

    Finally, EiE, why don’t you tell us who you really are instead of hiding behind an alias? What have you got to hide?

    Albert Vetere Lannon

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