Former Mashpee employee files race-based discrimination complaint against the town

Yahoo

25-05-2025

MASHPEE — After experiencing what she calls racial discrimination as a town employee, a woman has filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination against the town of Mashpee.
Stephanie Coleman, a former administrative secretary for Town Manager Rodney Collins, filed the race, color, and retaliation complaint on March 25. The commission has scheduled an investigative conference with the town and Coleman on Aug. 6. The race specifically identified is African American.
Coleman, 39, of Mashpee, identifies as Wampanoag and African American. She alleges she was underpaid compared to a white co-worker and that the town retaliated against her for speaking openly about wages. She resigned from her job Feb. 7.
"Mashpee deserves a government that values fairness, integrity, and equal treatment for all employees," Coleman said in an interview with the Times.
In an email on April 22 to the Times, Collins said the town strongly denies any discriminatory practices or decisions related to Coleman. The complaint is "filled with factually inaccurate information," he said. The town won't comment any further, while the matter is pending, he said.
Coleman has not hired a lawyer related to her complaint against the town, she said. She was not a member of a union, and instead worked under a personnel administration plan, she said.
The commission, a state agency, enforces Massachusetts anti-discrimination laws by investigating complaints in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other aspects of everyday life. There is no cost to file a complaint, and no lawyer is needed.
The commission first reviews a complaint to see that it falls within its jurisdiction, according to the agency's online guide. An investigator is assigned, and the complaint is then sent to the person filing the complaint and the entity or persons named in the complaint for a response. The complainant can then give an answer to the response. An investigative conference may be held, mediation may lead to a settlement, or an investigation and disposition will be made on whether unlawful discrimination may have occurred. From there, a number of avenues exist to move forward, such as appeal, settlement or a public hearing.
In fiscal 2024, the commission recorded 3,553 new complaints, according to the annual report. The top three protected classes in the complaints were retaliation, disability and race.
Since 2020, two other complaints were filed with the commission against the town of Mashpee, both against the town school department and school officials, according to information provided by the commission to the Times. One complaint was closed in July 2021, and the second was closed in January 2024.
The commission does not confirm or deny the existence of an open complaint filed with the agency, Justine LaVoye, the press secretary for the commission said.
Coleman started her work in town hall in 2017 in the town treasurer and tax collector department, and in 2023 she was working in the the four-person town manager and Select Board office with a salary of $60,000, according to the town reports. Coleman's supervisor, the administrative assistant, was making $90,000 in 2023.
The four people in the office at that time were Collins, an assistant town manager, an administrative assistant and Coleman. In the 2023 town report, the Select Board describes Coleman and the administrative assistant as "vital intermediaries" with the public.
In total, the town paid about 800 people for work in 2023, ranging from $241,168 for a firefighter with overtime to a building department worker for $31, according to the town report.
In March 2024, Coleman learned her supervisor — the administrative assistant — was retiring. To prepare for that retirement, Coleman trained for the supervisor's position, according the the complaint.
In September 2024, Collins offered another town employee, from the health department, a pay increase to assist with administrative assistant duties for the town manager's office, according to the complaint.
Coleman said she learned about the pay increase because in her job she regularly handled salary paperwork. She knew the increase was higher than her pay and that she was working her normal duties and also training to replace her supervisor. She talked to an assistant town manager about it. The town then dropped the other employee's pay increase, according to the complaint.
In September 2024 Coleman's supervisor retired, and she was hired in October 2024 to fill the job, at $37 an hour, according to the complaint.
In November 2024, the town posted an additional administrative assistant role externally for the town manager's office, and the other town employee, from September, who is white, was hired at $45 per hour, according to the complaint. Because the pay was more than what Coleman was offered she asked Collins to increase her pay so it was comparable. He refused, according to the complaint.
In December 2024, Coleman spoke to a town human resource manager about the difference in pay and her claim of discrimination based on race, according to the complaint. At a meeting, then, with Coleman, Collins and the human resource manager, Coleman repeated that she felt the difference in pay was discriminatory. Collins raised his voice at that meeting and said he would not be accused of being a racist, according to the complaint.
On Dec. 30, 2024, Coleman formally withdrew any request for an increase in pay, according to the complaint. She became fearful, she said to the Times, that she could lose her job for speaking out.
"I felt really alone. I felt no one was listening to me," Coleman said.
Throughout January, 2025, Coleman continued working full time. The town gave her back pay for the extra work she performed in September and October, according to the complaint.
In or around January, 2025, an anonymous letter was sent to Collins, stating that the town was paying people differently based on race, according to Coleman's complaint filed with the state agency.
On Feb. 3, 2025, Collins held a meeting with Coleman and others about the letter, according to the complaint. In that meeting, Coleman denied knowing who wrote the letter. At the meeting, Collins became angry and said the letter was Coleman's fault, for discussing salaries in the office, according to the complaint.
In an email Feb. 4, Coleman told an assistant town manger that she was uncomfortable in the office and wouldn't be back to work the next day, according to the complaint.
Coleman was placed on paid administrative leave on Feb. 6, and told to attend an administrative hearing on Feb. 11, according to the complaint, due to unprofessional conduct and falsified sick time. Coleman denied these allegations and did not attend the hearing, the complaint stated.
"This isn't about me," Coleman said to the Times. "It's about ensuring that no other employee of color faces the same discrimination and retaliation that I have endured."
Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at [e-mail]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @RachaelDevaney.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: A former secretary to Mashpee Town Manager Rodney Collins claims bias