City of Madison Racial Equity Coordinator Toriana Pettaway was put on paid leave Tuesday after she violated an unpaid three-day work suspension last week.
Pettaway, also a former write-in mayoral candidate, was suspended for three days for insubordination and failure to follow work rules. She has faced multiple disciplinary actions from her boss, Department of Civil Rights director Norman Davis.
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Davis emailed Pettaway a memo Monday morning, notifying her of this action. Pettaway gave a presentation to Dane County’s United Way group last Thursday, violating the rules of her suspension, according to an email to the Wisconsin State Journal. Davis said Pettaway will be paid for the time she worked.
Pettaway has been under investigation multiple times since November for poor work performance and insubordination.
According to the memos, Davis has written Pettaway up for insubordination, being disrespectful to colleagues and inappropriate “tone and grammar” in the workplace.
Pettaway contacted members of the media and elected officials without Davis’ approval according to the Feb. 15 memo which Davis said was “insubordinate and deceitful” and “will not be tolerated.”
In the memos Davis said that during a Feb. 7 disciplinary hearing, Pettaway said “Your policy doesn’t mean anything to me” and “I’m going to continue to divulge everything.”
Pettaway was unable to collect enough signatures, falling just one short of the 200 necessary, saying the failure to accrue enough names was because of “some White Supremacy BS” within the city clerk’s office.
While Pettaway submitted a petition with 217 signatures, 18 were from people who did not live in Madison, making them invalid, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
