Members of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus have thrown their support behind a state audit of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority in response to allegations of racism and discrimination at the independent state authority.
“The complaints filed by Black employees alleging discrimination in hiring, promotion, and working conditions, as well as the lack of diversity among the authority's top employees, are troubling,” Executive Director Závon Billups wrote in a statement on behalf of the caucus. “The fact that there is no diversity officer charged with creating opportunities for people of color is also a cause for concern.”
Over the past month, five employees filed formal complaints with the state attorney general alleging racial bias against employees, vendors and convention guests, including heightened security at Black-sponsored events and pay inequity among employees, according to reporting from The Boston Globe.
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority is one of a few independent authorities in state government that does not have a diversity officer. A Globe review also found no Black employees among the 25 highest-paid employees at the authority, including leadership.
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio has launched an audit of the authority, roughly one month after the release of a previous audit into its past performance that identified “several deficiencies” in compliance with state contract laws.
“The issues raised by The Boston Globe and Andrea Estes are concerning and fall precisely within the realm of objectives I have enumerated in my social justice and equity audit plan,” DiZoglio said in a statement.
Multiple employees of color sent an anonymous letter to Gov. Maura Healey in January, urging her to replace MCAA Executive Director David Gibbons and the rest of his leadership team. Healey’s office is conducting its own investigation into the allegations.
“What has been raised and reported on is very concerning,” Healey told reporters on Tuesday. “We're currently reviewing all of that.”
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority “strongly refutes the assertions and the motivations behind them,” according to a spokesperson for the authority. “We take seriously the claim that any employee, client or guest feels discriminated against, mistreated, or undervalued.”
The MCCA hired law firm Prince Lobel Tye LLP and principal attorney Walter Prince to “review our policies and procedures at present and in the past, including the experience of employees of color within the organization and any negative experience that an attendee of color may have had at the BCEC or Hynes.”
The authority received formal notice of the audit, according to the spokesperson, and will be “working diligently” with DiZoglio’s office.
In their anonymous letter to Healey, employees expressed concern about losing their jobs as a result of speaking out individually or drawing attention to cultural issues, according to the Globe.
“This underscores the need for stronger protections for whistleblowers and for employers to create a culture of accountability and transparency,” Billups wrote in his statement on behalf of the Black and Latino Caucus. “The allegations of racial discrimination at the [authority] are deeply concerning, and it is critical that the authorities take swift action to investigate and address these issues.”
Michael Curry, the former president of the NAACP Boston Branch, says he worked with David Gibbons to bring the NAACP national convention to Boston this summer.
“Gibbons and I got together and said, 'We need to change Boston.' We proposed to the national NAACP bringing the convention here, and the convention is coming,” Curry said in an interview with GBH News. “I think that's a tremendous opportunity for [Gibbons] and the rest of his team to seize on that little victory, that relatively little victory, to then start getting big victories in systemic change within the Convention Center Authority.”
This evaluation of the authority is an opportunity to investigate the lack of diversity among leadership at companies across the state, Curry said.
“This is not unique to the Convention Center Authority. This is rampant throughout Massachusetts and particularly in Boston,” Curry said. “The reality is, too many C-suites and too many organizations are predominantly white and male. We've not yet cracked the code on how we tap into talent; women and people of color who have tremendous talent to offer these organizations. Shame on us and shame on the convention center if we don't meet the moment.”
