DNR supervisor who won job back alleges gender bias in firing

A supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources who won her job back in a labor arbitration is alleging that top managers committed gender discrimination when they fired her a year ago.

Capt. Cathy Hamm, who had supervised conservation officers in the metropolitan area, won a major victory last week when an labor arbitrator ruled that upper DNR management, not Hamm, is to blame for any misuse of public money and staff time on a 2007 game warden conference.

Now, as Hamm prepares to return to work, DNR's management finds the tables turned. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights is still investigating Hamm's complaint, filed in May, that managers wrongfully discharged her because of her sex and her marital status, her attorney Sofia Andersson-Stern said Tuesday.

If the DNR is faulted for discrimination, it could face additional sanctions, including up to $25,000 in punitive damages, on top of the year of back pay already awarded to Hamm by the arbitrator. A Human Rights Department spokesman said the agency doesn't comment on pending investigations.

DNR officials also have declined to comment except to say that the agency will comply with the order to reinstate Hamm.

Andersson-Stern said Hamm's discrimination complaint alleges that she was held accountable for decisions made by her husband, former Col. Mike Hamm, who headed the DNR enforcement division until he retired under threat of being fired last year. Unlike her husband, Cathy Hamm was not allowed to retire to avoid being fired, and she was the only manager other than her husband to be investigated for her role in the conference, Andersson-Stern said.

Under the ruling by arbitrator Stephen Befort, a University of Minnesota labor law professor, Hamm was awarded back pay, about $88,000, although her retirement benefits collected during the past year, about $62,000, will be deducted and returned to the state retirement system. Hamm could be awarded up to three times her actual damages if she wins her discrimination case.

The turn of events has provoked fresh criticism of the DNR and Commissioner Mark Holsten, who ordered Hamm's firing.

Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, a retired conservation officer who once headed its union, said he has known Hamm for years and believes that she was the victim of discrimination. "She is bold and brassy. She is not intimidated by men," he said. "Some might have found that threatening. She is real upfront and stands up for herself."

He stopped short of criticizing Holsten, but other legislators did. "This appears to be a mess," said Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, who serves on a commission that oversees the work of the Legislative Auditor. "It looks like it was handled very sloppily. There's going to be more cost to taxpayers because of that."

Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St. Paul, chairwoman of an environmental finance committee, said "the commissioner ultimately needs to be responsible for this." Legislators intend to question DNR officials about the matter Nov. 16 at a joint session of Anderson's committee and a House environmental committee, said Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, who is chairwoman of the House committee.

All of these troubles stem from the 2007 North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association conference, hosted by the DNR and the Minnesota Conservation Officers Association, in St. Paul. The Hamms were big supporters of the event, and Cathy Hamm headed the organizing committee. All of the state's 204 conservation officers were required to attend, at state expense.

Last year, after the cost was reported by the Star Tribune, the Legislative Auditor launched the first of two investigations and concluded that the DNR misspent $300,000 to host six days of training and entertainment for 450 conservation officers from the United States and Canada. In response, the DNR paid an outside attorney another $62,000 to investigate how it happened. The internal investigation resulted in the forced retirement of Mike Hamm and the firing of Cathy Hamm.

Initially, Cathy Hamm also was accused of discrimination and harassment of conservation officers who work in a program to reach out to the Asian community. Those allegations were dropped by Holsten three days before the arbitration. DNR officials have declined to give a reason. Hamm's attorney said the allegations weren't supported by the evidence.

Although the conference turned a $76,000 profit, the union and its national association kept the money. The DNR has sued to get some of it back.

David Shaffer • 612-673-7090