SEATTLE — The CEO of Seattle City Light is responding to an investigation that revealed years of complaints about sexual harassment, drinking on the job, and hazing by employees.
On Friday, KIRO 7′s Samantha Lomibao sat down with Dawn Lindell, who’s been CEO since 2024, about the 20-page independent investigation into the company.
“I’m disappointed this culture was in place. I am disappointed for the employees who were impacted,” said Lindell.
The investigation involved some members of the Network Group, which operates under the utility’s Transmission and Distribution Operations Division. The investigation began in 2023, but anonymous complaints spanned back to 2017.
Lindell was asked, “How are you confident that this will change during your time here?”
“I have been in contact with the union, IBW Local 77, throughout this past year. The union leadership is committed to making this change. They also agree this is not who they are, and this is who they want to be for their members,” affirmed Lindell.
Within the report, employees described times when crew chiefs were drunk while handling high-voltage cables.
On Page 10, it said, “Witnesses reported that crews drank beer, wine, margaritas, shots, and other hard alcohol between regular and overtime shifts.” Employees went on to say the drinking happened in the “dock, in their vehicles, at job sites, at substations, in vaults, and underground.”
KIRO 7 asked Lindell if she believes the jobs were done properly while workers were drinking alcohol.
“Obviously, someone drunk can’t do their best work, and that’s unfortunate. I do believe that with our electric reviewer team who comes in and back checks the work that we ensure that the work was done to standard and that things are functioning well,” Lindell explained.
According to the report, disciplinary action was taken against the 34 employees whose allegations turned out to be true.
“What we took into account was the severity, the egregiousness of the behavior for each individual,” Lindell explained. “Those who received warnings or those who receive coaching with the written documentation, they were forced into this.”
The ‘toxic work culture’ described in the investigation revolved around the company’s network group, but Lindell believes that behavior could have spread to other departments.
“I think it’s likely that as employees have moved around, a bit of this culture may have moved with them. And that’s why it’s really important that we not only talk with network, but we make this an entire utility conversation,” she said.
Lindell reiterated that these cases do not represent the company as a whole.
“That is not who we are. We had a small group of employees who made some really big mistakes, and they impacted a lot of people negatively. We want to impact people positively, and we are committed to making a difference in this community,” she said.
Lindell says she will be meeting with all employee groups on May 1st to talk about safety and remind workers that drinking at work is a fireable offense.
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