MANAGEMENT : Union Officials Cite Claims of Bias Against Fairview Supervisors

Union officials familiar with working conditions at Fairview Developmental Center charged Wednesday that the department in which murder suspect Michael E. Rahming worked has spawned complaints about discrimination for years.

Several union representatives alleged that employees considered to be “outsiders” are often harassed and treated differently by their superiors.

In addition, the representatives charged that the state has failed to respond to concerns about the quality of supervisors at Fairview and other state hospitals.

State welfare officials on Wednesday denied that widespread discrimination exists at Fairview or other state hospitals.

While none of the union representatives suggested that Tuesday’s deadly outburst was in any way justified, they gave credence to many of Rahming’s complaints, including charges of racial discrimination.

“If anyone is saying there is no racial discrimination out there, that’s a bunch of hooey,” said Rick Funderberg, a representative of the International Assn. of Operating Engineers, the union to which Rahming, a painter, belonged. “I don’t know about his particular situation but (discrimination) does exist.”

Added George Swift, manager of California State Employees Assn. Local 1000, which is based in Fullerton:

“This is a very unfortunate thing, but it doesn’t surprise me because of the stress some employees are put through by poor management (at Fairview).”

Several black employees at the hospital echoed those charges, complaining that qualified black workers rarely advanced.

“There are no blacks (in administration), and I think if (a black) did manage to get in an office up there, they’d move it,” said one black maintenance worker who asked not to be identified.

“To say that harassment and other negative conditions are prevalent in plant operations is crazy,” said Carol Hood, state deputy director for development centers. “Michael Rahming used due process procedures, and in each of those cases his claims were denied.”

Kassy Perry, a spokeswoman for the state Health and Welfare Agency, said officials believe that Tuesday’s rampage was an isolated incident carried out by a “disgruntled” employee. However, she said state officials will look into charges raised by union officials.

“We will be looking at the whole operation . . . at what may have led up to this,” Perry said. “If there are problems in the supervision of plant operations, those problems will come out.”

Fairview officials could provide only limited information on the ethnic makeup of employees. According to their records, about 14% of the work force is Latino and 6% to 8% is black. But acting administrator Lou Sarrao acknowledged that the vast majority of top administrators and supervisors are white.

Union officials charge that some of those supervisors, particularly in the “plant operations” area where Rahming worked, use their positions to reward favored employees and punish others.

“It is a very cliquish atmosphere,” said Funderberg, who represented plant operations workers at Fairview from 1983 to 1986. “If you are not part of the group, they treat you like you don’t exist and they can make life extremely miserable.”

According to officials affiliated with the operating engineers union, there are more than 300 grievances on file from facilities in Southern California. They could not immediately determine how many of those stem from conditions at Fairview.

Rahming had filed discrimination complaints with both the state Fair Employment and Housing Department and the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The status of the complaints could not be determined Wednesday.

Rahming had also filed a workers’ compensation claim that was scheduled to be heard on Oct. 25, according to attorney Seth Kelsey.

Kelsey said the EEOC complaint alleged that Rahming was forced to take an administrative leave from July to August of 1990 and forced to undergo a medical exam--all because of his race and in retaliation for filing a discrimination complaint.

Swift, who also used to represent Fairview workers, said many black employees complained of discrimination.

“The people I represented with grievances were minorities, and they constantly complained of being harassed,” Swift said. “Supervisors would deny them things that they would allow others to do.”

Gilda Garcia was a union representative for the Assn. of Trades and Maintenance, which had represented Fairview plant operations workers until May when the union was decertified. Garcia had represented Rahming at an April grievance hearing and said she has no doubt he was victimized by co-workers.

“At that hearing I pleaded with (Fairview Executive Director Hugh) Kohler to recognize that this issue was not one-sided, but they seemed to take it lightly,” Garcia said. “We talked to people who were willing to speak out on how Michael’s superiors treated him.”

Garcia said Rahming complained of being ostracized and harassed by his supervisors and of being given impossible tasks to complete.

Fairview officials have accused Rahming of being a poor worker who was unable to complete assignments and was frequently tardy.

However, in an April 3 letter to his immediate supervisor, James H. Pichon, Rahming’s work is praised as “impeccable.”

“He has patched holes and cracks in the walls that have been there since I began working here in 1979,” wrote Marsha Headington, a clinical records and audit coordinator at the hospital. “He has moved furniture and cabinets which had previously been ‘painted around.’ He has done a magnificent job, and my office has never looked better.”

A copy of the letter was also sent to Rahming. Headington could not be reached for comment Wednesday. But Fairview affirmative action coordinator Larry Heads also indicated that Rahming was at least a competent worker.

“There is no unanimous conclusion as to who this man was,” said Heads. “We are not personality experts. He functioned here. He painted here. He could and did do his job.”

Times staff writers Tammerlin Drummond and Kevin Johnson contributed to this report.