- Allentown Human Relations Commission is tasked with enforcing the city’s ordinance banning discrimination in housing employment and public accommodations
- The commission is currently down six members and has no investigator
- Members plan to direct discrimination complaints to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission until a new investigator is hired
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown’s undermanned human relations commission is set to forward any discrimination complaints it receives to its state counterpart.
First set up in 1963 — a few years before Allentown passed an ordinance banning discrimination in housing employment and public accommodations — the commission is at just over half-strength, with seven volunteer members and six seats unfilled.
It hasn’t had a dedicated investigator since the beginning of 2023, members said.
The task of investigating claims of discrimination could shift to a new office, with Mayor Matt Tuerk proposing to open up a new diversity, equity and inclusion manager job in 2024, Commissioner Louis Holzman said.
That has led the city’s commission to strike up a new partnership with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission after doing its own investigations for a long time.
Commissioners met Thursday in City Council chambers to iron out their response to complaints alleging discrimination in Allentown.
“It’s important that there's an immediate response to let them know that somebody is listening. When someone feels like they’ve been discriminated against, no matter what the case is, that’s a traumatic experience. And when you are in a traumatic experience, one of the worst things that can escalate your trauma is feeling like you’re alone, and that nobody hears you."LaTarsha Brown, vice chairwoman of the Allentown Human Relations Commission
People whose emailed complaints “clearly cite discrimination” will be directed to work with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, which can investigate their allegations, city commissioners said.
Complainants will get an immediate response to their emails, with the commission’s leadership to provide a more substantial response within a week, they said.
“It’s important that there's an immediate response to let them know that somebody is listening,” commission Vice Chairwoman LaTarsha Brown said.
“When someone feels like they’ve been discriminated against, no matter what the case is, that’s a traumatic experience.
"And when you are in a traumatic experience, one of the worst things that can escalate your trauma is feeling like you’re alone, and that nobody hears you.”
‘Nothing to do with’ City Hall investigation
The move to forward some complaints “has nothing to do with the mayor” or a potential investigation into racism and discrimination allegations at Allentown City Hall, Holzman said.
Any complaints related to those claims would have been filed with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission rather than the city’s, commissioners said.
Allentown City Council authorized the investigation in October, several months after the local NAACP branch released a letter detailing "a concerning number of complaints from Black and Brown employees” who work in City Hall.
That letter included allegations that some white Allentown police officers threatened to shoot their Black colleagues, who it said are targeted by racial slurs and “continuously threatened."
Employees of color are “verbally attacked” by white supervisors, and “white managers rule out Black and Brown employees during promotions,” the letter states.
City council members Ed Zucal, Ce-Ce Gerlach and Daryl Hendricks are expected to work with the city’s Purchasing Bureau to hire an investigation agency.
That agency will look into all firings and resignations within city government since the start of 2022 and interview people who filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Human Relations Commission, or internal complaints, according to the bill council unanimously passed last month.
Investigators will work to determine whether any Allentown employees violated city personnel policies and/or local, state and federal workplace discrimination laws.
Zucal has said the investigation could take “six months or more.”
