The Vermont Human Rights Commission found that in her second week on the job, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George likely discriminated against an employee “based on his national origin, race and color” when she fired him.
The report, released by the commission last week, found “reasonable grounds to believe” that George discriminated against Abdullah Sall in dismissing him from his job. The investigator for the commission, who reviewed 10,000 emails, determined that there was no evidence that Sall had failed to perform his duties and that he was treated differently than two white employees who were similarly situated.
Sall was hired to work as an administrative assistant in the state’s attorney’s office under now-Attorney General T.J. Donovan, before George held the role. George came into the job in January 2017, and fired Sall, who had worked in the office for more than six months, just eight days later.
George, an outspoken advocate for criminal justice reforms who has a reputation as a progressive prosecutor, disputes the conclusions of the panel. She said in a statement that if the case goes to litigation, she believes her office has “ample evidence” to show that Sall’s dismissal from her office was not discriminatory.
A month after his termination, Sall announced plans to sue George. In his HRC complaint about the incident, he alleged that he was harassed about his accent and faced a hostile work environment in the Chittenden County prosecutor’s office. Sall, a Muslim immigrant from Liberia, recalled her saying as she fired him that “no one could understand what he was saying.”
The commission wrote in a 56-page report that it didn’t find sufficient evidence to support the hostile workplace claim, but did find that Sall was treated differently because of his race. The report identified two white employees who had similar performance issues who were allowed to stay on the job while Sall was terminated.
The Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs and the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office, which were both named in the case, claimed that Sall failed to perform basic job duties, should not have been hired, and was offered “extensive support and training” in his time on the job. They also denied that Sall’s accent was brought up in the meeting at which he was fired.
George says Sall gave inaccurate information to the public, argued with other staff members, was defensive about constructive criticism, and made serious mistakes, such as misfiling paperwork resulting in a failure to issue arrest warrants. Direct supervisors did not document Sall’s alleged poor performance in writing before he was fired.
The state’s attorney denied that his accent had anything to do with his termination.
The Human Rights Commission determined that two white employees in the office who had similar work duties and performance issues were treated more favorably than Sall was.
A white receptionist, referred to as “Employee B” made similar mistakes, and was given the opportunity to fix the problems, the report says.
“Employee B’s personnel file revealed that she had also — for years — failed to file paperwork just as important as the paperwork Mr. Sall was not filing,” the report states. “Employee B was given a pass. Mr. Sall was not, despite the fact that they had similar performance issues during overlapping time periods.”
Another white receptionist who was responsible for training Sall allegedly directed racist “microaggressions” at him.
It is common for new supervisors to fire employees hired by their predecessors, according to the report, but the investigation found that George didn’t give Sall a chance. The document notes that George could have better explained her expectations or counseled him, rather than firing him right off the bat.
“She chose not to,” the report states. “This reflects her biases.”
The Human Rights Commission blasted George for intending “to portray Mr. Sall not only as incompetent, but also as a liar, as a sexist, as culturally insensitive to a co-worker, even as abusive … and as someone who had said highly inappropriate things in the office that he should not have said.” George alleged that he made inappropriate statements about a UVM rape case in front of members of the public.
“In addition, there was an effort to try and convince this investigation that Ms. George had meant to imply or suggest these inappropriate things in her list of reasons, but had just left them out,” the authors of the report wrote. “Perhaps she was remarkably circumspect despite being given an opportunity to unload every reason under the sun for firing Mr. Sall, however ultimately, this investigation is not convinced that Ms. George intended to include them because this investigation does not believe they played much, if any, a role in his termination. It also finds some, but not all, of these stories credible.”
The commission also found evidence of explicit and implicit racial bias. Two employees explicitly discussed Sall’s accent in an email. Supervisors also did nothing to protect Sall from members of the public who harassed and swore at him because of his accent, according to the report.
Vermont Attorney General Donovan told the commission that he recognized implicit bias was in play when he first hired Sall. “Reservations had been expressed in the office about hiring Mr. Sall as the receptionist and that he believed those reservations reflected a ‘lack of cultural competency’ in his own former office staff.”
Donovan told the commission he didn’t believe Sall should have been fired. Instead, he said the receptionist should have been given a structured improvement plan.
The commission found that both the hiring and firing of Sall was “reckless,” no job description was made available, and training and supervisory support for Sall was “sorely lacking.”
In an email to VTDigger, Sall said he has “no opinion” about George, and noted that the problems with racism in Vermont extend far beyond this one incident.
“Racial hatred, racial prejudices, and Muslimisia are all public safety issues,” Sall wrote. “I want to thank the Vermont Human Rights Commission for their efforts during this lengthy investigative process. They have restored my lost credibility and faith in the institutions and the people of the state. It has been a very painful journey; an unimaginable ordeal.”
Sall said he hopes the “good-hearted people of Vermont” will support him and the commission’s conclusion.
Following the HRC’s “reasonable grounds” determination, the two parties now have six months to negotiate a settlement. If a settlement cannot be reached, the commission can decide whether to litigate.
George said the HRC determination is “not the final word” on the case. Should it go to litigation, she said, she believes her office has “ample evidence” to show the termination was based on “legitimate, non-discriminatory actions, and that there was no violation of the law.”
“One of the challenges of managing staff is that hard decisions – including decisions to fire an employee – sometimes need to be made for operational integrity and efficiency; and to ensure that we are serving the citizens, as taxpayers, to the best of our ability as we operate our public office,” George said in a statement.
George said she believes both her personal and professional behavior attest to the fact that she “fiercely advocates” for fair, unbiased and respectful treatment of all Vermonters.
“I have regularly advocated for citizens who are underrepresented or marginalized due to their race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, national origin, disability or age. I will continue to do this work, and will not be deterred by this finding,” George said.
George has a reputation for being a progressive prosecutor in Chittenden County. Last month, amid national protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, she announced she would review all pending criminal cases of Black individuals in her jurisdiction to determine if they were handled in the same manner as those involving white individuals.
The state’s attorney has expunged more than 100 criminal records involving minor marijuana offenses, supports opening safe drug injection sites, and recently has come out in favor of defunding police departments.
“No one with White privilege, no matter how educated or how well-meaning is immune from implicit bias or committing an unwitting discriminatory act,” the report stated.
