The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California board will hold a closed-door meeting Thursday to discuss allegations by the agency's chief financial officer that CEO Adel Hagekhalil has harassed, degraded and marginalized her and created a work environment hostile.
Chief Financial Officer Katano Kasaine made the allegations in a letter obtained by Politico.
“Throughout my nearly 30 years of government service, I have encountered toxic work environments, but none as hostile and dysfunctional as Metropolitan,” Kasaine said in the May 27 letter. “Despite my tireless dedication and excellent performance ratings, it has become incredibly stressful to even show up for work. “I am constantly scrutinized, marginalized and demeaned for confronting issues that are not in the best interest of Metropolitan.”
A special meeting was scheduled while Hagekhalil traveled to Singapore for a water conference. According to the meeting diary, The closed-door session will include a review of Hagekhalil's performance, as well as a discussion of possible discipline or termination.
Hagekhalil responded to the allegations in a text message, saying: “I have always maintained the highest standards of integrity and promoted them for all of our staff at Metropolitan. I truly treat everyone with respect, always, and no one in my office has been mistreated. Any statement to the contrary is false.”
He said the claims are “disagreements over management decisions.”
“When I started at MWD, I increased Katano's responsibilities on an interim basis, and as CFO, she has had an important leadership role in recent MWD actions, including overseeing the agency's adoption of a two-year budget. years and the development of a long-term financial plan. plan,” Hagekhalil said.
MWD is the nation's largest wholesale supplier of drinking water, serving cities and agencies serving 19 million people throughout Southern California.
