Witchcraft takes center stage at labor hearing

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The oft-delayed wrongful termination hearing filed by former Child Support Enforcement employee Evangaline Logg finally began before the Navajo Labor Commission Wednesday.

Logg had been out of work on medical leave, and when she did not report to work on June 8, 2004, the date her supervisor William Nez decided her leave ended, she was considered to have voluntarily resigned her position. Logg filed a complaint alleging unlawful termination and charging Nez with harassment.

Numerous delays
The case has been marked by numerous delays. The latest was when Department of Justice attorney Diandra Benally sought to bar the media from the proceedings. After the commission denied Benally's request, she appealed to the Navajo Supreme Court, which upheld the labor board's decision.

Gallup attorney David Jordan, who is now representing Logg, asked for another continuance so the complaint could be amended to include emotional harm and so a new witness could be deposed. Amendments to the complaint have to revert back to the original complaint, and Jordan argued that contradictory letters to Logg dated two days apart from the Navajo Office of Labor Relations clouded the issue of amending the complaint.

The new charge of emotional harm has no connection with the original complaint and therefore should be disallowed, Benally countered.

Emerging from executive session, commission Chairman Casey Watchman said that both motions by Jordan were denied.

"The commission is mindful that this matter has been delayed way too many times," Watchman added.

Trouble brewing
Though Benally stressed that the issue before the commission was strictly about whether Logg's termination was appropriate, there was a side issue that could not be swept under the rug: witchcraft.

Nez's written statement to be "protected by withcraft" is a major element of this case, Jordan said. Such allegations can be explosive on the reservation in fact, tribal law considers it grounds for defamation to call someone a witch, Jordan said.

Fear of witchcraft has played a role in some witnesses for Logg not to come forward, Jordan said. Logg, herself, sought blessing by a medicine man, but many did not want to get involved, Jordan added. His largely Navajo office staff asked that the office be blessed before they were comfortable being involved in the case, Jordan explained.

"I'm trying to be sensitive to some very powerful beliefs," Jordan said.

Tuesday night, for example, a coyote crossed the road in front of him, Jordan said. To a traditional Navajo that could portend an evil omen, much as some are superstitious about black cats, he said.

"In this case we're talking about something more than a black cat it was a threat of harm by witchcraft, which (Nez) threw around. He wrote 'protected by witchcraft' on presidential letterhead with the president's and vice president's names in the corner," Jordan said. The threat intimidated Logg, her lawyer said.

The president's office has already dealt with Nez on that matter and it is "something he'll have to live with," Benally said. Traditional Navajos learn about witchcraft and ways to protect themselves, she added.

However, Benally insisted, witchcraft was not a subject of the labor commission's hearing.

"This case is about termination," she said.

Termination or resignation?
Both sides agree that Logg had been on leave for carpal tunnel syndrome, but they differ sharply on what type of leave it was and when she was cleared to return to work.

Jordan said Logg was on workers compensation leave pointing to the fact that she received two-thirds of her pay while on leave. After workers comp ended, she was within her rights to apply for family medical leave which is unpaid a provision supplied by the Navajo Nation's personnel policies.

The defense claims that the tribe's medical leave ran concurrently with the federal workers compensation leave, and thus, Benally said, both expired without Logg returning to work.

After receiving notice that her "resignation" was accepted, Logg filed a grievance to regain her job. The grievance was denied because as a resignation, Logg was not eligible to appeal, said Viola Nave-St. Clair, employee relations manager for the Human Resources department.

Under the tribe's family medical leave policy an employee with at least one year of full-time employment can request a three-month medical leave, Nave-St. Clair explained. When that ends the employee can get an additional three months at the discretion of their supervisor, she added.

Jordan asked if employees know what day they are expected to return to work.

"I'm assuming, because they have the (family medical leave) application, that they know the date of return," Nave-St. Clair said.

Under cross-examination, Nave-St. Clair said she saw no documents in Logg's personnel file to indicate that she had been told that she was expected to return to work on June 7, 2004. However, she did not "feel comfortable" saying that Logg had no knowledge of when to return to work, Nave-St. Clair said.

Do employees take advantage of the tribe's leave policy to use six months of workers comp and then another six months of family medical leave, Benally asked.

"No," Nave-St. Clair said. "I've never experienced that."

Point of no return
Pierette Baldwin-Gumbrecht, Child Support Enforcement program supervisor, said she wanted to make sure Logg was dealt with in a fair manner, the same for any employee.

A letter from a surgeon cleared Logg for light duty as of June 7, 2004, Baldwin-Gumbrecht said.

"She can't be in two places at once, can she?" wondered Jordan, noting that Logg was at the doctor's office in Albuquerque on June 7. He asked Baldwin-Gumbrecht if she really expected Logg at work on that same date.

"The letter says 'effective today' (referring to June 7)," Baldwin-Gumbrecht replied.

Even if the surgeon's letter cleared Logg for light duties, she had not been cleared to return to work by the person treating her for anxiety and depression which was also included in Logg's request for a leave, Jordan said.

The policies say a person must have a doctor's clearance to return from leave, and the surgeon's letter provided that, Baldwin-Gumbrecht said.

According to Navajo Nation policy an employee is allowed six months medical leave per any 12-month period, Baldwin-Gumbrecht said.

"That's not what it says," Jordan countered, pointing to the fact that Nave-St.Clair had just said the six months leave applies to any calendar year.

Assuming the leave goes by the calendar year, if Logg's leave began exactly on Jan. 1, she would be on leave until the end of June, Jordan said. Logg was fired when she still had at least 22 days of her leave in reserve, he suggested.

Baldwin-Gumbrecht said she sought an opinion from DOJ regarding the Logg resignation. DOJ said it met tribal policies, she said.

"Is that the normal protocol?" Jordan asked. Is DOJ consulted on every termination, he asked.

The letter from Nave-St. Clair to Logg stated that her leave had expired, Baldwin-Gumbrecht said.

Did she receive a memo from the tribe's insurance services department regarding Logg, Jordan queried.

The memo, dated June 10, said insurance services was working on a claim by Logg and asked her office to assist Logg, Baldwin-Gumbrecht explained.

"You knew another department of the Navajo Nation was processing my client's Personnel Action Form?"

She did, Baldwin-Gumbrecht acknowledged.

"Did you comply with their request to cooperate, and send out the forms they asked for?" Jordan asked.

"No."

John Christian Hopkins can be reached at hopkins1960@hotmail.com or by calling 505-371-5443.