An independent consulting firm will soon critique how state government’s policies may have created an unhealthy work environment for minority employees.
Gov. Jack Markell (D) will pay Ivy Planning Group nearly $470,000 to review policies, procedures and the way public workers are organized and point out any systemic problems related to race and diversity.
The move comes after state human resources officials found an “unhealthy work environment due to lack of professionalism and cultural insensitivity” at the state labor department as first reported by The News Journal.
The Delaware NAACP and a group of African American pastors claimed they had documented more than 150 claims of workplace racism across state government, according to the report.
Last summer, Markell sent all state employees an email saying the public sector has no tolerance for harassment and discrimination and that the group of pastors convinced him of their “valid concerns.”
A final report is expected by the end of the year.