Opinion ID: 2997132
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mike Harjung’s Promotion

Text: In 1998, Kelly retired and the CTA posted the Project Manager position again. Hudson chose not to apply. The salary set for the position by Human Resources was less than the amount Hudson was earning at the time. The promotion went to Mike Harjung. Harjung, before his promotion, worked as a Coordinator over bricklayers, carpenters, maintenance repairmen and flagmen doing special projects. One of the first projects Harjung worked on at the CTA was cleaning the subway rights-of-way, including the subway sewers. Harjung had a background in plumbing and worked previously for the City of Chicago Water Department. No. 01-2014 5 In the spring of 1998, Harjung demonstrated his problemsolving skills by repairing a sewer in front of the CTA’s West Shops facility in just two days, even though others had been trying to fix it for a month. Based on his experience and good reputation for being a hard worker, plus an unsolicited recommendation from the Deputy Commissioner of the City of Chicago Water Department, the interviewers believed Harjung to be more than qualified for the position. II. Manager Rail Customer Facilities Maintenance: George Grecco’s Promotion Hudson also complains about the promotion of George Grecco, a Caucasian male, to the position of Manager Rail Customer Facilities Maintenance (“Manager Rail Facilities”). Hudson did not apply for the position although it was posted in the spring of 1997. The posting summarized the responsibilities for the position as follows: “assists the General Manager in development and administration of department’s programs, policies and goals, administers discipline to janitors and responds to grievances.” Hudson did not apply for this position because he did not want to supervise janitors even though the posting listed references to responsibilities beyond the supervision of janitors. Hudson also admits that he did not have the special training required for electricians who repaired elevators and escalators. III. General Maintenance Manager: John Johnson’s Promotion John Johnson was promoted to the position of General Maintenance Manager. This position was not posted and from the briefs it is unclear who conducted the interviews. CTA believes that the recommendations and interviews were handled by an African-American, Randy Simmons, 6 No. 01-2014 who is now deceased. The promotion was approved by George Haenisch, who was Vice President at West Shops. Johnson had over twenty years of experience at the CTA and had previously worked as a machinist in the fabricated parts group and as Senior Coordinator in the Utility Repair Section, where he supervised tradesmen in utilities. Haenisch believed that Johnson’s responsibilities as Senior Coordinator involved a lot of supervision of tradesmen and that Johnson did that job well. Haenisch testified that the tradesmen at West Shops and at the Utility Repair Section may have different work but are capable of transferring between the two areas.