Military Affairs assessing workplace climate

HELENA (AP) — Montana Department of Military Affairs leaders are asking their employees to participate in a workplace assessment after a study found distrust and dysfunction within the division responsible for emergency preparedness.

The Department of Administration is conducting the survey. A link to an online questionnaire was sent to employees last week, with responses due April 17, Adjutant Gen. Matthew Quinn told a panel of state lawmakers Wednesday.

A state human resources team will discuss the results with staffers and managers and come up with a path to improve the work environment, Quinn said.

A survey last year focused only on issues within the Disaster and Emergency Services division. It was ordered by then-interim Adjutant Gen. Joel Cusker after he learned of eight lawsuits filed against the agency by former employees and after a current DES employee complained privately of a hostile work environment and sexual harassment.

The new survey is going to all department employees, not just DES workers, Quinn said.

A copy of the questionnaire obtained by The Associated Press asks workers to indicate how strongly they agree or disagree with 35 statements, including, "My current work environment is one of the best I have ever experienced," ''My supervisor listens to employees" and "My supervisor treats all employees fairly."

Quinn said in an April 5 letter to employees that the survey will be anonymous.

One of the pending lawsuits against DES and the military affairs department was filed by former longtime spokeswoman Monique Lay, who claims the agency's emergency management mission was overshadowed by the intra-office tumult.

However, Military Affairs spokesman Maj. Tim Crowe has denied the division's work has been affected.

Military Affairs leaders released the findings of last year's DES survey in February, after state lawmakers threatened to issue a subpoena for its release.

The three-page outline was based on one-on-one employee interviews with an independent communications consultant. It describes a divisive workplace in which some employees fear retaliation and bullying by managers, sexual discrimination and possible mismanagement.

But DES does not qualify as a hostile work environment, the April 2012 report concluded.

Lay claims in her lawsuit that her position and that of her supervisor were eliminated in 2011 after they complained a temporary employee was receiving special treatment in exchange for sex with DES Chief of Staff Paul Grimstad.

Grimstad previously acknowledged the affair in a court proceeding, but Crowe said Lay's claims are inflammatory and have been found to be unsubstantiated by a state hearings officer.