AFGE,

Last November, the National Executive Council (NEC) made a commitment to being transparent with our members and our employees on any development related to the serious allegations of misconduct that have been made against J. David Cox, Sr. The independent investigation commissioned by the NEC has been completed. Today, we are publishing in its entirety the report of Working IDEAL, the independent investigator, led by former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Jenny Yang, finding that numerous allegations that were made against former president J. David Cox, Sr., are supported by credible detailed evidence.

Let us be clear: the behavior by Cox outlined in this report is contrary to the mission and values of our great union, is not what we stand for, and behavior like this will not be tolerated by AFGE – from any individual at any level.

On behalf of the entire NEC, we would like to thank Brett Copeland and Rocky Kabir for coming forward to tell their stories. The courage these two former employees have shown in coming forward has triggered a series of events which will allow the NEC to hold the union’s former president accountable for his misconduct and will allow us to make necessary changes to ensure that situations like this will never happen again. They have done a service to our union and to all our members and employees. We are committed to learning from their experiences, protecting our members and employees from similar misconduct, and creating a safe and inclusive AFGE environment.

We also would like to thank Working IDEAL for the thorough and professional investigation by their team. The NEC tasked Working IDEAL with conducting an independent, thorough, and impartial investigation of allegations of misconduct by Cox, evaluating AFGE’s policies and practices related to preventing and responding to workplace harassment, and making recommendations for AFGE to strengthen its workplace. They conducted over 70 interviews, reviewed many emails, along with select personnel and complaint files, event schedules, collective bargaining agreements and written policies and procedures.

Working IDEAL did this work independently of AFGE. No one at AFGE dictated to whom Working IDEAL spoke, what information they considered, or how they managed their investigation. Working IDEAL did not report to or receive direction from AFGE’s General Counsel’s Office. And, with the exception of J. David Cox, Sr., AFGE leadership and staff cooperated with all requests for interviews and records.

Working IDEAL’s report includes significant findings and recommendations for policy and procedural reforms to help AFGE ensure that we are fostering a safe and secure environment for all AFGE employees and members. Some of the significant findings are as follows:

The report concludes that a number of serious allegations against Cox are supported by credible detailed evidence, including:

The allegations that Cox subjected former AFGE employee Brett Copeland to sexually harassing behaviors;
The allegations that Cox subjected former AFGE employee Rocky Kabir to sexually harassing behaviors and harassing behaviors based on Kabir’s religious affiliation, and that Cox leveraged his position of power to make unreasonable and unprofessional demands of Kabir; and
Other allegations that Cox subjected other individuals, including AFGE staff and members, to conduct of a sexual nature and other inappropriate conduct.

The report concludes that the evidence does not establish that any senior leader knew the full picture of sexual misconduct and other inappropriate behavior by Cox, and that there is no evidence that any member of the NEC had actual knowledge of Cox’s treatment of Kabir while he was employed at AFGE.
The report, however, identifies shortcomings with AFGE’s EEO infrastructure, policies, practices, and culture, including gaps in reporting and responding to EEO allegations, which left few checks on the power of the President and hindered AFGE’s ability to learn the full picture of Cox’s misconduct and to hold him accountable. Among other things, the report concludes that decisions in some cases not to pursue further investigation after certain allegations were made contributed to AFGE, including the NEC, not learning of and responding to Cox’s misconduct at an earlier time.
The report also identifies other impediments to reporting and responding to EEO allegations, including: a lack of trust in the complaint process, a tendency to discredit certain allegations as politically motivated, tolerance of inappropriate jokes and comments, a lack of policies and practices addressing the responsible use of alcohol, relationships between supervisors and subordinates, or off duty conduct, and a lack of set policies and processes to share information about EEO allegations and compliance with the NEC or to provide effective oversight in cases of Presidential misconduct.

AFGE has already begun making critical changes to address these issues and to move forward in a manner consistent with its mission and values and to help our union foster a culture of inclusivity and a safe and secure environment for all our employees. Here are some of the changes AFGE has already made:

Responsibility for reporting and responding to EEO allegations has shifted to AFGE’s Human Resources department and, on an interim basis, to the Legal Rights Committee of the NEC. AFGE is moving expeditiously to fill the role of HR Director with a strong leader to assist AFGE in making policy and cultural changes.
AFGE has adopted and continues to implement a new Code of Conduct covering all AFGE events, available here.
The AFGE National Executive Council will form special committees to review the recommendations of Working IDEAL and within 120 days recommend specific policy changes covering each recommendation for approval by the NEC.

More information can be found in the full, published report, which is linked below.

Finally, we want everyone to understand that this report is not the end of this process. Reforms will continue to be implemented as we meet all of the challenges that AFGE faces. Internal charges that have been made against former President Cox will be investigated thoroughly and any action warranted by that investigation will be vigorously pursued.

As we move ahead from this moment as a union, we would like again to thank all those who came forward to tell their stories and help AFGE make necessary changes and to thank Working IDEAL for their professional investigation. Our union is stronger for your actions, and we are today in a better place to continue the fight for the 700,000 employees we represent across the federal and D.C. governments.

You can find a link to the full, public Working IDEAL report here: www.afge.org/WorkingIDEALReport

In Solidarity,

AFGE National Executive Council

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