Katherine Torres Report

This statement is in reference to the allegations filed by Katherine Newcomer. As Ms. Newcomer stated she is only the only LGBT employee that I supervise, but I have supervised or worked with other LGBT employees in the past here at the Department.
In reference to Ms. Newcomer’s allegations from back in the Fall of 2011. Yes, Ms. Newcomer had allegations made against her by a fellow co-worker Brenda Torres. Ms. Torres met with Angie Kendall and me in regards to several incidents involving Ms. Newcomer in which unwanted comments and unnecessary physical contact had occurred and made Ms. Torres very uncomfortable. The following are the incidents that were discussed in the meeting that Angie Kendall and myself had with Ms. Newcomer.
• In July

of 2011 Ms. Newcomer made a comment about Ms. Torres’ weight, she asked if she had been losing weight because she looked good.
• In August of 2011 Ms.

Torres made a comment to co-workers when the group was having an ice cream social during their break time that she did not want to eat a lot because after work she was meeting a friend. Ms. Torres stated that Ms. Newcomer began asked questions about who she was meeting, where would they be going which made Ms. Torres very uncomfortable. This was witness by another co-worker Stacey Loban and she told Ms. Newcomer that she should not be asking Ms. Torres these questions.
• In September of 2011 Ms. Torres stated was when Ms. Newcomer came up and gave her a big hug for helping with a work related issue. Ms. Torres stated that she shared this with another co-work Lisa Solis because she was very upset about the incident. This incident occurred early in morning before others has arrived to work.
• In October of 2011 Ms. Torres stated that Ms. Newcomer had dressed up for Halloween and that she followed her to desk to get her to look at Ms. Newcomer’s costume at which time she rubbed up against Ms. Torres’ arm which made her very uncomfortable. Ms. Torres also mentioned on another occasion that Ms. Newcomer had dropped some papers to the floor when she walked by and Ms. Torres felt that she did this so that she could watch her walk

by.
I do not recall the incident in reference to the donut and do not have reference to this in my documentation from this meeting.
All of this information was forwarded to Major Fleming to review, at which she felt that it was not to the point of filing an 18.25 complaint, but to have Ms. Torres to keep myself and the chain of command of future incidents.
Ms. Kendall and I met with Ms. Newcomer to inform her that at the time no investigation would be done, but that she needed to make sure that she should limit her contact with Ms. Torres to work related matters only, because if any other allegations had made that this would be addressed again.
As for Ms. Newcomer’s allegations about not being able to go to the ladies room when Ms. Torres was present, I did not recall having a conversation with her about this matter.
In regards to Ms. Newcomer’s allegations about the humming out loud, yes this was mention to her because I had a couple of employees state to me that she was humming and they felt she was not aware of how loud she was. I witnessed her humming myself and I just mentioned to her that to make sure that she was not humming so loud that others could hear her over the cubicle walls. I did not even address it as a verbal warning; it was just a friendly reminder to be mindful of her humming. As for the coworker that is talking on her cell phone before her shift starts, yes I have seen this on one occasion and she has been given a friendly reminder to be mindful of this as well.
In regards to Ms. Newcomer’s allegations about visiting and/or chatting with co-workers with it be ones in her direct unit and/or units. It has never been said that the unit is not allowed to visit and/or chat during work hours. As a matter of fact just this week an email was sent to the Image Archival Unit and the Quality Assurance unit bout this very topic. See statement below as what was sent to all in regards to this matter. This has always been the rule for visiting and/or chatting with others during their work hours.

To All,
Just a friendly reminder to all,
Please be mindful when communicating with your peers with conversations that are communicated by talking loudly across the room. This can be distracting to others as they are focusing on their work.
Also please remember if you have stopped at a coworker’s desk to visit that you are not spending more than a few minutes, five at the most, and then you and your coworker should return to your assigned tasks.
Thanks
Ms. Newcomer stated that she has complied with this directive this statement is false, she has been observed repeatedly by myself as well as other supervisors visiting for extended periods. As for other co-workers in the unit visiting they are held to the same standards as Ms. Newcomer has been given and they have been given the same reminder. Ms. Newcomer’s reference to an Imaging unit employee as being a friend of mine I have known this employee my entire career here it the Department and prior to that we went to the same high school. Yes, it one point this employee was in my office quite frequently because she was having personal issue outside of work and just needed someone to talk to.
Also Ms. Newcomer stated that one of her co-worker visits with her sibling which is a supervisor in the immediate area for extended periods of time other than breaks and/or lunch this is not true. This has not been observed by me or it would have been addressed not to mention this employee’s sibling would have not let this happen due to the fact of her position.
Ms. Newcomer stated that I violated her privacy and confidentiality she referenced an incident to which this violation occurred. As for me recording the incident I do not recall that recorded any of the conversation that I had with her. Ms. Newcomer’s statement in regards to saying that my brother said it would turn out this way is not a true statement. I do not share details of this nature with my family. I do know that Ms. Newcomer did share the details of this dispute with several of her co-workers whether be verbal and/or in photos.
Ms. Newcomer’s next allegations in regards to the employee that she labeled M.S. have been fabricated to a degree. On that particular day this employee’s ex-husband had called several times looking for her. The last time that he called I had answered the phone and he wanted to know if I knew where she was because he could not reach her. After I hung up other employees that were aware of M.S. situation started talking about her situation and some of things that Ms. Newcomer mentioned were brought up, but it was nothing like what she has stated.
Ms. Newcomer’s next two allegations are not related to each other because during both of these incidents there were different factors that occurred during the two. During the first incident this stemmed from an investigation that had occurred early which involved both ladies. Yes, they did get into a confrontation just outside of my office and that is why they directed to my office to remove them from the work area. Once I got them in my office they were able to settle down and apologize to one another. As for how they were reprimand for their actions it was handled appropriately and they had to apologize to the entire unit for their outburst.
The next incident that involved Ms. Newcomer was a completely different situation.