Lawrence Hemingway was disciplined in 2019 for inappropriate comments made about female coworker while in the workplace, according to personnel records obtained from Evanston, Ill.
Hemingway, Evanston’s director of parks and recreation, was disciplined for violating the city’s healthy work environment and sexual harassment policy after an investigation revealed he repeatedly made sexual comments about the coworker.
On Aug. 4, Hemingway was appointed by the parks and recreation commission as Oakland County’s next director of parks and recreation. The commission is meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 22, to discuss Hemingway’s appointment.
Here are records included in Hemingway’s personnel file:
A female co-worker filed a complaint that claimed Hemingway was making comments about her that were inappropriate and made her feel very uncomfortable. According to the records, Hemingway made comments in August 2018 about pictures on the co-worker’s Instagram account, which showed her wearing a swimsuit on a beach in Mexico.
According to city records, Hemingway had also regularly referred to the co-worker as “Pocohantas” and “Lil Bit,” both of which were overheard by other parks and recreation staff, who believed them to be inappropriate.
In a recent interview withThe Oakland Press, Hemingway said his comments to the co-worker, who he viewed as a friend in the workplace, weren’t sexual, but were unprofessional.
He added that he made a mistake and didn’t want to downplay the comments, but called the filing of the complaint “more of a personal attack” from someone “trying to really harm my name and professionalism.”
Investigators concluded that Hemingway had created an unhealthy work environment for that co-worker with his comments..
According to Hemingway’s disciplinary action form, signed and submitted Feb. 18, 2019 to human resources by then City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz, “The investigation found that the comments about vacation photos were sexual in nature. During the investigation, Mr. Hemingway admitted that he had called her names and had made comments about the vacation pictures.”
At that time, Hemingway referred to the name-calling as a joke and meant to refer to how she looked, including her various hairstyles and stature. He said comments about her vacation photos were not meant to be anything other than him being envious that she was able to take a vacation.
Last summer, a petition signed by more than 50 female beach staff and presented to Evanston officials said male co-workers engaged in rampant sexual misconduct – often against underage girls. In the petition, the women called on Evanston officials to publicly apologize for failing to address “the blatant sexism, sexual harassment, assault, racism, and discrimination that occurs at the lakefront.”
The petition also asked that two male employees in the department be fired. City officials confirmed that one of the male employees was not rehired this year and a source confirmed to WBEZ that the other man resigned July 16.
On July 22, the Evanston City Council hired an outside law firm to investigate sexual misconduct allegations made by the beach staff in the petition.
On July 27, the city released a statement that the law firm is looking at the validity of the allegations and whether city officials, including Hemingway, responded in a timely and appropriate way to the petition submitted more than a year ago. Investigators will also provide recommendations for the city.
In an earlier statement, city officials said they reacted properly to the petition, which included sexual harassment training for employees.
When The Oakland Press asked Hemingway about the investigation, he said that he believes his department "made the best decisions with the information that they had" when the allegations first surfaced last summer.
He has recused himself from the investigation citing the disciplinary action taken against him by the city.
On Wednesday, the Oakland County parks commission will meet in Waterford to further consider Hemingway’s appointment. This includes a closed door meeting to consider approval of his pre-employment background check, which was completed by the county human resources department following the August appointment.
The commission approved Hemingway’s appointment. “Certainly, I want a good, qualified candidate and I think Lawrence Hemingway is that person based on our conversations. Everything I’ve seen so far seems to be ok. We felt (Hemingway) was the best qualified candidate,`` Gary McGillivray, chair of the parks commission, said after the appointment.
A job offer is contingent on the commission's approval of the background check.
If the background check is approved Wednesday, his appointment will be considered for approval by the county board of commissioners, who will have the final say about whether Hemingway becomes the next county parks director.
McGillivray previously told The Oakland Press that the commission has concerns and wouldn’t want a parks director that has had past problems.
He has also said that the commission is following Evanston’s investigation. When asked what would happen if the investigation concluded that Hemingway acted inappropriately, McGillivray added, "Well, then we would probably not hire him.”
The parks and recreation commission meets at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22, at the Waterford Oaks Activity Center, 2800 Watkins Lake Road, in Waterford. The meeting is open to the public.
Here is the meeting agenda: https://www.oakgov.com/parks/getinvolved/Pages/Parks-Commision.aspx.
